Atomflot’s nuclear-powered icebreakers handled 435 ship calls during this winter-spring shipping season
The total GT reached 48.6 million tonnes
Atomflot (an enterprise of the Rosatom State Nuclear Energy Corporation) summed up the preliminary results of the winter-spring shipping season, and said that its nuclear-powered icebreakers handled 435 ship calls in the period from January 1, 2023 through June 30, 2023.
During the season, 200 ship made calls, under an agreement with Yamal LNG and Arctic LNG 2; 89 calls in the direction of Cape Kamenny to the Gates of the Arctic oil loading terminal (under an agreement with Gazprom Neft), 72 calls (under an agreement with MMC Norilsk Nickel); 74 ship calls in the direction of the Yenisei Bay (under an agreement with Sinarastroykomplekt), Atomflot said.
The total gross tonnage amounted to 48.6 million tonnes (versus 44.1 million tonnes and 424 ship calls in December through June, 2021-2022).
Leonid Irlitsa, interim Director General of Atomflot says the growth in cargo traffic is associated with the active construction of new projects in the Yenisei Bay.
“It is worth noting the work of the crew of the universal nuclear icebreaker Ural. In early December last year, the ship set out on its first operational voyage. The crew quickly adapted to the icebreaker and provided rhythmic piloting of the ships. Now the nuclear-powered ship continues to operate in the waters of the Northern Sea Route. In addition, our effective interaction with GlavSevmorput demonstrates the readiness of Rosatom to solve problems of any complexity in the Arctic,” Leonid Irlitsa said.
At present, the nuclear icebreakers Arktika, Sibir and Taimyr continue to operate in the basin of the Northern Sea Route (NSR). The nuclear-powered container carrier Sevmorput operates a preferential coastal voyage in the direction of the Port of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. On June 24, the ship left the Port of St. Petersburg. It is planned that the transition to the Nakhodka based Port Vostochny will take about 22 days. In Murmansk, the scheduled repairs of the Yamal and the Vaigach nuclear icebreakers continue. The crew of the 50 Let Pobedy nuclear-powered icebreaker is preparing to embark on a commercial voyage with tourists on board. On July 12, the ship will depart from its home port of Murmansk in the direction of the North Pole.
Currently, the development of infrastructure and shipping in the Arctic is one of the key activities of the Rosatom State Corporation. In 2018, the Russian government gave Rosatom the authority of the infrastructure operator of the Northern Sea Route. In December 2019, the government approved the NSR Infrastructure Development Plan until 2035, developed by Rosatom.
The development of the Northern Sea Route as one of the most important logistics corridors is one of the strategic priorities of the government. Increasing the volume of traffic along the NSR is of paramount importance for solving the tasks set in the field of integrated development of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation. The development of this corridor is ensured through the establishment of regular cargo transportation, the construction of new nuclear-powered icebreakers and the modernization of the relevant infrastructure. Enterprises of Rosatom take an active part in this work.