Orders for building 4 non-nuclear icebreakers at Zvezda shipyard under consideration - minister
MOSCOW. Nov 6 (Interfax) - Orders to build four diesel-electric icebreakers at the Zvezda Shipbuilding Complex's facilities, where construction of the 120 MW nuclear icebreaker Rossiya is already underway, are under consideration, Industry and Trade Minister Anton Alikhanov said during the launch ceremony for the Chukotka nuclear icebreaker.
"The possibility of placing orders at these facilities for four diesel-electric icebreakers is being considered. Their construction will free up more powerful nuclear icebreakers for work in the eastern sector of the Northern Sea Route, which is distinguished by its more difficult ice environment," Alikhanov said.
"At the same time, to fully utilize our main maritime artery we require a sovereign large-tonnage cargo fleet, including gas carriers, bulk carriers, container ships, dry cargo ships, oil tankers and LNG tankers. Work on these vessels is underway at the aforementioned Zvezda Shipyard. The portfolio of large-tonnage orders currently stands at 26 vessels," he said.
The plan for the Zvezda Shipyard's loading plan stipulates construction of an additional 92 ice-class cargo ships by 2037 to meet the needs of the Northern Sea Route, he said.
"To ensure a higher level of localization and technological independence for our new fleet, at your instruction, Vladimir Vladimirovich [Putin], work is ongoing to master the production of critical shipboard equipment. A separate subsidy aims to do this, as part of which 47 enterprises are developing 89 different types of this new equipment, and next year we will begin serial production of the first models," Alikhanov said when addressing the Russian president during the ceremony.
The budget for 2025-2027 allocates funds for developing shipbuilding equipment, he said. "We have budgeted for and are separately working on new mechanisms to stimulate demand for such critical shipboard equipment, to ensure that it is competitive," he said.
Rosatom will be the customer in plans to build four diesel-powered icebreakers with a capacity of 40 MW, the newspaper Vedemosti previously reported. Rosatom's intention to build four icebreakers of this kind emerged in 2017. Initially, two types of propulsion system were considered for the series of icebreakers - a nuclear one or an LNG-powered one. However, the dual-fuel propulsion system using LNG and diesel was later abandoned, and the decision was made to proceed with a purely diesel option.