Russia eyes Indian yards to build four non-nuclear icebreaker ships - ETInfra
The government has sounded out two shipbuilders - one state-owned and the other private - to build four non-nuclear icebreaker ships estimated worth over Rs6,000 crores for Russia’s state-owned nuclear energy company ROSATOM as Russia scouts for “favourable and capable yards” in India to construct the ships to support its Northern Sea Route (NSR) development plan in the face of sanctions imposed by the United States, according to ETInfra.
Russia is pitching the Northern Sea Route as an alternate global shipping route, offering quicker transit time between Northern Europe and East Asia than the conventional Suez Canal route. According to the Russian Government’s Northern Sea Route Development Plan, the country aims to transport at least 150 million tonnes of crude oil, liquefied natural gas, coal, and other cargoes a year, starting 2030, via its Northern Sea Route. The Development Plan includes more than 50 icebreakers and ice-class vessels, along with construction of ports, terminals and emergency vessels.
Russia and India are discussing the possibility of systematic supplies of Russian energy resources (oil, coal, and LNG) from the north-western ports of Russia via the NSR to Indian ports with transshipment in Russian Far Eastern ports. In this backdrop, ROSATOM is planning to build four non-nuclear icebreaker ships in India, said an official with knowledge of the matter, adding that the shipbuilding order is being firmed up at the behest of the Indian and Russian governments.
India and Russia are also exploring a memorandum of understanding on ship building and repair of Russian ships by using yards in India and on training of Indian seafarers in Polar waters, the official said, asking not to be named. The plans were discussed at the first meeting of the ‘Joint Working Group on Cooperation in the Northern Sea Route between Russia and India’ held on Thursday. “In Europe, there is nobody to make these ships for Russia because of sanctions and their own issues, while yards in China, South Korea and Japan are booked till at least 2028. Hence, Russia is looking at options; nobody is there other than India with whom it has excellent relations. This explains why ROSATOM is scouting for Indian yards to build the icebreaker vessels,” said a second official briefed on talks for the potential order.
“The Northern Sea Route is a universal platform for developing multifaceted cooperation in a number of areas, and we see great potential for cooperation with India in various areas, from developing cargo flows to building shipyards, developing port infrastructure, and involving representatives of the Indian scientific community in ROSATOM’s environmental projects in the Arctic,” a public relations manager of Rosatom State Corporation in South Asia told ET Infra in a emailed response on 20 August.
Russia is enticing Indian yards to build the icebreaker ships for ROSATOM, holding out an offer to construct big oil tankers later, the second official said. A team from Russia, comprising officials from ROSATOM, had visited the yards to assess their capabilities and infrastructure, a shipbuilding industry executive with knowledge of the visit said. Russia and India are keen to get the order finalised quickly. “Russia is ready to do everything to get the icebreaker ships constructed in India, saying that if you make these ships for us, we will give you many more ship orders,” the second government official mentioned earlier said. The Indian government, on the other hand, has extended all possible help to the Indian yards executing the ROSATOM order, the official added. The only concern for the yards, though, is the type of steel to be used for construction and the source of supply of engines for the icebreaker ships.
