Russian nuclear icebreaker completes trials

09 March 2007

[Nuclear.Ru, 13 February; Bellona, 23 February] Russia’s sixth and largest Arktika-class icebreaker, 50 Let Pobedy (50 Years of Victory), has successfully completed a two-week program of sea trials in the Gulf of Finland and in the Baltic Sea. The ship – originally launched in 1993 as NS Ural – is 25,000 dwt, powered by two 171 MW OK-900 reactors and is designed to break through ice up to 2.8 m thick. It is 159 m long and 30 m wide. The vessel – to be operated by the Murmansk Shipping Company – has been under construction since 1989. Russia will need six to ten new nuclear-powered icebreakers in the next 20 years, as demand for them grows with the development of the Arctic shelf and increased traffic along the Northern sea route.

Further information

Murmansk Shipping Company

WNA's Nuclear-Powered Ships information paper

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