Nuclear breaks the ice for gas shipment
07 July 2011
A Russian large-tonnage tanker is undertaking a "super early" voyage along the ice-covered Northern Sea Route in the Arctic Ocean with the assistance of two nuclear-powered icebreakers, Atomflot announced. The
Perseverance, with a deadweight of 73,000 tonnes, left the port of Murmansk in the extreme northwest part of Russia on 29 June carrying 60,000 tonnes of gas condensate bound for China. It was accompanied by the icebreakers
Yamal and
Taimyr. The ships are currently north of the New Siberian Islands and will soon reach the eastern edge of the ice in the Chukchi Sea, where the
Perseverance will continue its journey unaccompanied through the Bering Strait into the Pacific Ocean. The vessels are travelling at an average speed of 11 knots (about 20 kilometres per hour) through the ice. Atomflot said that this was the earliest time of year that a heavy tanker had ever travelled along the sea route.