Project 22220 Russian Icebreaker
Baltic Shipyard (Baltiysky Zavod), a member of Russia’s United Shipbuilding Corporation, has won an open tender to construct two additional Project 22220 nuclear icebreakers at a total contract value of 84.4 billion rubles (USD $2.4 billion).
These two vessels will be similar in design to the 173-meter Arctic which Baltic Shipyard currently has under construction for Russia.
This giant icebreaker features the new OKBM Afrikantov-designed RITM-200, dual reactor plant that provides up to 50 megawatts of electrical power via three shafts to the vessel to allow it to operate year-round in the arctic. The Arctic was ordered in August 2012 at a total cost of USD 1.2 billion and is scheduled to be delivered in 2017.
Igor Ponomarev, Acting President of the United Shipbuilding Corporation notes these vessels are “essential for the steady development of Russian Arctic projects” and will be targeted for use on Russia’s northern continental shelf to permit commercial navigation on the Northern Sea Route, as well as “to ensure the objectives of strategic security and protection of national interests in the Arctic region.”
In particular, these ships will enable the transportation of hydrocarbons from the Yamal and Gyda peninsulas as well as the Kara Sea.
An overview of the icebreaker design (in Russian)
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NATO member Estonia will refrain from detaining Russia's "shadow fleet" vessels in the Baltic Sea, worried that seizing oil tankers and other ships sanctioned by the West could lead Moscow to defend them militarily, a senior commander said on Friday.
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