Russian nuclear-powered icebreaker operating company Atomflot has accepted into service its latest vessel, the Sibir. This is the second of the five Project 22220 icebreakers ordered by the company, from the Baltic Shipyard, in St Petersburg, Russia.

The Project 22220 vessels are the largest nuclear powered icebreakers ever built, displacing reportedly about 33 500 deadweight tons (dwt) each. (Dwt is a measure of how much weight a ship can carry; it is a standard that is particularly applied to merchant ships.) The lead ship in the class, Arktika, entered service in late 2020.

The Project 22220 vessels were developed because the observed retreat of the Arctic ice cap has made the ‘North East Passage’, or ‘Northern Sea Route’ – the sea route between Asia and Europe, along the northern Russian coast – much more practical, although still requiring the use of icebreakers. “We are confident that the efficient operation of these vessels will become a determining factor in [the] sustainable development [of the Arctic Sea route],” affirmed Atomflot CEO Mustafa Kashka, at the acceptance ceremony for the Sibir.

Each of the Project 22220 icebreakers is powered by two RITM-200 reactors. Each reactor has a capacity of 175 MWt, and delivers 60 MW to the ship’s propellers, through twin turbine generators and three motors. Reports vary on how often the reactors have to be refuelled. The estimates range from seven years to 12 years.

Atomflot is a subsidiary of Russia’s State-owned integrated nuclear group Rosatom. It currently operates a fleet of five nuclear-powered icebreakers and one nuclear-powered Lighter-Aboard-Ship (better known as LASH) vessel. (A LASH vessel is a ship that carries barges on sea routes that the barges themselves could not independently take.)

Three more Project 22220 ships are under construction at the Baltic Shipyard. They are the Ural, Yakutia and Chukotka. Originally founded in 1856, the Baltic Shipyard is today a subsidiary of Russia’s State-owned United Shipbuilding Corporation.