Two more LK-60 icebreakers needed for regular year-round navigation on Northern Sea Route

Two more LK-60 icebreakers should be built to organize a regular year-round navigation on the Northern Sea Route, IAA PortNews correspondent cites Vyacheslav Ruksha, Deputy General Director of Rosatom - Director of the Northern Sea Route Directorate, as saying at the 11th International Forum “Arctic: Today and the Future” held in Saint-Petersburg. According to the speaker, State Corporation “Rosatom” is ready to invest in construction of icebreakers running on liquefied natural gas (LNG) under long-term agreements with the customers.

“In my opinion, the tasks set for 2030 cannot be implemented without the construction of two more icebreakers of Project 22220 (LK-60 - Ed.). Otherwise, we will have a limited period of navigation: it will be roughly extended from the current eight months to nine or, perhaps, ten months but there will be no stable year-round navigation...”, said Deputy General Director of Rosatom.

Vyacheslav Ruksha also emphasized that good commercial speed should be ensured on the Arctic routes. Navigation through two-meter thick ice at a speed of 10-12 knots will be possible with involvement of the 120 MW icebreaker of Leader-class. The icebreaker named Rossija is to be completed in 2027.

Baltiysky Zavod shipyard is building a series of five nuclear-powered icebreakers of Project 22220. The lead icebreaker of Project 22220, Arktika, left the port of Saint-Petersburg for the Northern Sea Route on 1 December 2021 after completion of sea trials. The Sibir, Ural, Yakutia and Chukotka icebreakers are under construction.