February 5 2022
The world’s largest and most powerful conventional icebreaker ‘Viktor Chernomyrdin’ will be used as a passenger ship for Arctic cruises after retrofitting. Up to 93 passengers will be able to simultaneously travel on the icebreaker during the period free from its primary activities, TASS was told on Saturday by the press service of the Federal State Unitary Enterprise “Rosmorport”.
“After the additional equipment has been installed, the Registry class symbol of the ‘Viktor Chernomyrdin’ icebreaker will indicate the characteristic “Passenger ship” and the vessel will be able to accommodate up to 93 passengers onboard. The plans are to use the icebreaker to conduct Arctic cruises and transport passengers during a period free from statutory activities”, explained the “Rosmorport” press service.
Work on installing the additional equipment onboard the ‘Viktor Chernomyrdin’, as follows from the data of the public procurement portal, should be completed no later than April 1, 2022. The value of the contract, concluded following the results of the auction, amounted to 4.2 million rubles.
The contractor will have to install additional lighting on the icebreaker, re-equip the ship’s security systems, and perform a number of other improvements. Upon their completion, “Viktor Chernomyrdin” will be able to officially receive the class of a passenger ship.
The project 22600 icebreaker has been under construction by order of “Rosmorport” since December 2012 at the “Admiralty Shipyard” (St. Petersburg). This is the innovative new generation diesel-electric icebreaker with impressive 25 MW power plant (on propellers), high ice class ‘Icebreaker – 8’ and a maximum degree of automation. The icebreaker is capable of reaching speeds of up to 17.8 knots in clear water, passing through ice up to 2 meters thick at a continuous speed of 2 knots. The vessel can operate in various regions of the Arctic and Antarctic, she can penetrate ice up to 3 m thick.
The ceremony of raising the state flag of the Russian Federation on the icebreaker took place in November 2020. In January 2021, the vessel commenced her first voyage – icebreaking escort of ships in the Gulf of Finland (Baltic Sea). ‘Viktor Chernomyrdin’ operated on the approaches to the seaports of Vyborg, Vysotsk and Primorsk escorting ships, including large-capacity tankers, on their way to the ports.
Leave a Reply