LK-60 icebreaker Sibir is to commence operation in 2022, Vyacheslav Ruksha, Director of the Northern Sea Route Directorate, told journalists on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum.
“The deadline is set for December so that the icebreaker was operational in the navigation season of 2022. There are some risks but let’s hope for being able to overcome everything”, said Vyacheslav Ruksha.
The first serial icebreaker of Project 22220, the Sibir, was laid down on 26 May 2015 and launched on 22 September 2017.
General characteristics of 22220 Project vessels built to the class of Russian Maritime Register of Shipping: capacity - 60 MW, operational speed - 22 knots (clean water), length - 173.3 m (160 m, DWL), beam - 34 m (33 m, DWL), depth - 15.2 m; draft (DWL) - 10.5 m; minimum draft - 8.65 m, maximum icebreaking capability - 2.9-meter-thick ice (at full capacity and speed of 1.5-2 knots); full displacement – 33,540 tonnes; designated service life - 40 years, crew – 53.
The icebreaker engineering design was developed by CDB Iceberg in 2009. Nuclear-powered icebreakers of Project 22220 are equipped with two RITM-200 reactors of 175 MW. The system of the new generation was developed specially for this ship. The vessels dual-draft concept and capability will allow operating them both in the Arctic and in the mouths of the polar rivers.
The icebreakers will be operated in the western region of the Arctic: in the Barents, Pechora and Kara Seas, as well as in shallower areas of the Yenisei estuary and the Gulf of Ob area.
Under the contract with FSUE Rosatomflot, Baltiysky Zavod shipyard is building a series of five nuclear-powered icebreakers of Project 22220. The lead icebreaker named Arktika was put into operation in 2020, The Sibir, Ural, Yakutia and Chukotka icebreakers are under construction. The series can be extended to 7 icebreakers.