22 Nov 2022 14:41

Russia's Baltic Shipyard floats out Yakutia nuclear-powered icebreaker

ST. PETERSBURG. Nov 22 (Interfax) - OJSC Baltic Shipyard, part of Russia's United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC), on Tuesday floated out the Yakutia icebreaker, the third versatile nuclear-powered icebreaker of Project 22220, an Interfax correspondent reported from the vessel's float-out ceremony.

Project 22220 icebreakers operate in the Arctic, the Yenisei River, and the Gulf of Ob. They are also used to tow vessels and other floating structures through ice and tackle other tasks.

The construction of the project's flagship, the Arktika nuclear-powered icebreaker, began at Baltic Shipyard in November 2013. The Arktika was floated out in June 2016 and was commissioned in October 2020.

Rosatom signed an 84.4 billion ruble contract with Baltic Shipyard for the construction of the first and second serial Project 22220 icebreakers, the Sibir and the Ural, in May 2014. The Sibir and the Ural were initially expected to join Russia's nuclear fleet in November 2020 and November 2021, respectively. However, their commissioning was then moved to 2021 and 2022. The Sibir joined the Russian nuclear fleet in December 2021. The Ural was put in the water in 2019 and is expected to be transferred to the customer on November 29, 2022.

Baltic Shipyard is now also building the third and fourth serial icebreakers, the Yakutia and the Chukotka, at a cost of more than 100 billion rubles. They are expected to be commissioned in 2024 and 2026.

The Project 22220 icebreaker is 173.3 meters long, 34 meters wide, has a 60 MW capacity and is able to cut through 2.8-meter-thick ice.