On Wednesday, RF President Vladimir Putin participated, via video link, in a ceremony for launching “Chukotka” nuclear icebreaker under construction in St. Petersburg, the Kremlin press office reported.
The new icebreaker is being built at the Baltic Shipyard on the order of Rosatom State Corporation. It is the fifth Project 22220 nuclear-powered vessel. These nuclear icebreakers are the world’s largest and most powerful vessels designed to ensure year-round navigation in the Arctic.
During the event, Minister of Industry and Trade Anton Alikhanov and Director General of Rosatom Alexey Likhachev delivered reports.
The ceremony was also attended by Minister of Transport Roman Starovoit, Presidential Plenipotentiary Envoy to the Northwestern Federal District Alexander Gutsan, Head of the Presidential Directorate for National Maritime Policy Sergey Vakhrukov, St Petersburg Governor Alexander Beglov, Governor of the Chukotka Autonomous Area Vladislav Kuznetsov, Chair of the Council of the Sirius Federal Territory and Head of the Talent and Success Educational Foundation Yelena Shmeleva, Director General of the Baltic Shipyard Alexander Konovalov, and Director General of United Shipbuilding Corporation Andrey Puchkov.
‘The nuclear icebreaker Chukotka will be the fourth serial icebreaker built under this project. One icebreaker was built before that series had been launched. Two more ships of the same class, Yakutia and Leningrad, are under construction at the Baltic Shipyard. Next year, as agreed, icebreaker Stalingrad of the same series should be laid down. In addition, the next-generation nuclear icebreaker Leader, the most powerful so far, is being built at Zvezda shipyard in the Far East,’ the President said at the launching ceremony.
‘The construction of these powerful modern vessels is yet another embodiment of Russia’s industrial, scientific, technological and human resources potential. It is on the basis of domestic technologies and breakthrough scientific solutions that the national economy should develop,’ Putin continued.
‘I would like to repeat that our plans to develop our Arctic territories and to increase cargo traffic along the Northern Sea Route rely on expanding Russia’s icebreaker fleet’.
‘As you know, we have ambitious plans in this area. There is a great deal to be done. In this context, I suggest holding a special meeting on this subject, thoroughly preparing and comprehensively discussing all aspects of advanced development of the Northern Sea Route, so that we find concrete practical solutions. This is exactly how we approached the development of the Eastern Operating Domain and the modernisation of the Baikal-Amur and TransSiberian railways,’ Putin said.
‘In particular, we will need to consider options to create a more efficient pricing model for icebreaker freight transit, so that more carriers and shippers can afford such services, especially since both Russian and foreign companies are showing more and more interest in this route with each passing year, and I am sure this interest will only grow’.
‘Overall, we will need to seriously improve the safety and reliability of shipping in that region. To this end, we will continue to improve the quality of satellite navigation and communication, ice monitoring, upgrade infrastructure of Arctic ports and build the necessary railway access routes to them. In particular, we will need to expand and increase the capacity of nearby and distant railway access routes to the Murmansk Transport Hub, and to build a Northern Latitudinal Railway with potential extensions to the ports of Yamal, Taimyr and the north of the Krasnoyarsk Territory,’ the President concluded.
Photo: Kremlin press office