The decision on construction of the forth and the fifth multipurpose nuclear-powered icebreakers is expected before the end of 2018, Mustafa Kashka, Acting General Director of Rosatomflot said at the 7th Murmansk International Business Week when reporting about the contribution of FSUE Atomflot to the development of the Northern Sea Route, Rosatomflot says in a press release.
“The fleet of nuclear-powered icebreakers is an advantage of Russia in the Arctic, - he said. – The decision on construction of the forth and the fifth multipurpose nuclear-powered icebreakers is expected before the end of 2018”.
According to Mustafa Kashka, long-term contracts with the largest resource-extracting companies let the company attract investments for construction of the new fleet. The Portoflot project succeeded with the construction of an LNG plant in Sabetta. Four icebreakers out of five Arc4 and Arc6 ships have already been put into operation, the construction of port icebreaker Ob is underway.
The forum participants discussed issues related to the potential of the country’s Arctic entities and application of new technologies. Industrial companies of the region shared their experience in implementation of investment projects in the Arctic.
On November 14, Rosatomflot (a company of Rosatom Corporation) took part in the “Heading for the Arctic” plenary session, key event of the 7th Murmansk International Business Week. The agenda covered the state policy in the Arctic, industrial development of the Arctic regions, public private partnership.
The plenary session gathered some 600 participants from 12 countries and 11 entities of the Russian Federation. Among the participants were representatives of state authorities, diplomatic/scientific/educational institutions, businesses and non-governmental organisations from the European-Arctic and Asia-Pacific region.
Saint-Petersburg based Baltiysky Zavod shipyard is building three duel-draft 60MW icebreakers of Project 22220 (Arktika, Sibir, Ural). LK-60 icebreakers will be able to escort convoys of ships in the Arctic, breaking through ice of up to 3 meters thick.