The nuclear-powered container ship nears end of life
The nuclear-powered lighter aboard ship Sevmorput is expected to be replaced by a ship from the market using conventional fuel as she is exceeding her service life in 2024, the vessel operator Atomflot said.
Leonid Irlitsa, the head of Atomflot (the vessel operator) told PortNews about the Sevmorput scheduled replacement on the sidelines of the 13th International Forum “The Arctic: Present and Future”. He clarified that there are ships with the required characteristics on the market.
The lighter carrier Sevmorput is one-of-a-kind nuclear-powered cargo ship with icebreaking capabilities. The lighter carrier was built at Kerch based Zaliv Shipyard named after B. Butoma back in 1988. The ship is outfitted with KLT40 reactor and has rated power of 29 mW. Thanks to hull shape design and its reinforcement and nuclear-powered propulsion the ship can perform unescorted voyages in continuous, 1 meter-thick flat ice at a speed of about 2 knots. The ship needs icebreaker assistance when sailing in challenging heavy ice conditions in the Arctic.
The nuclear-powered Sevmorput was deployed on subsidized coastal routes for transportation of different cargo on the Northern Sea Route (NSR). The ship completed two round trips on the Arctic route in 2022-2023. The Sevmorput will perform three round voyages next year.