Tag Archives: icebreaker

Severstal started supplying bimetallic sheets for the construction of the Rossiya icebreaker

November 17 2022

The Severstal company has started shipping the first bimetallic sheets for the Zvezda shipbuilding complex. A batch of 100 sheets is intended for the construction of the bow of the hull of the nuclear icebreaker Rossiya.

The bimetal will be used for the ice protection of the atomic icebreaker, the so-called ice belt of the ship. This is a reinforced lower part of the hull that directly resists ice.

The bimetal is produced at mill 5000 of the sheet-rolling shop at the production site in Kolpino, using a new batch rolling method.

“Specifically for this project, in less than six months, a new site for assembling bimetallic packages was organized at the Severstal production site in Kolpino. And in October, the new site completed the modernization of equipment to accelerate the stripping of the main layer of bimetallic sheets in the range of thicknesses from 10 to 250 mm, which will increase production by 900 tons per year. The processing time for one sheet has been reduced from 56 to 8.5 hours,” said Dmitry Vanev, General Director of the Izhora Pipe Plant.

Also, the production of rolled metal for the first vessel of the Leader project is provided by mills 2000 and 2800 of the Cherepovets Metallurgical Plant.

“Severstal” is the main supplier of rolled metal for the construction of the icebreaker, the company fully met the need for ship steel for the construction of embedded sections.

Source: https://www.korabel.ru/news/comments/severstal_pristupila_k_postavke_bimetallicheskih_listov_dlya_stroitelstva_nosovoy_chasti_ledokola_rossiya.html

Operation of icebreakers was discussed at the opening of the Russian-Chinese laboratory of polar technologies

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September 27 2022

China intends to improve the level of technology for operations in ice conditions

St. Petersburg State Maritime Technical University (SPbGMTU) and Harbin Engineering University (HEU) solemnly held an online opening ceremony of the Russian-Chinese laboratory of polar technologies and equipment and the first meeting of the laboratory’s academic council. The Academic Council consists of leading experts from SPbGMTU, HEU and specialized organizations in Russia and China, the press service of the Russian university reports.

An agreement to establish a joint laboratory under the Belt and Road Initiative was signed between the universities in 2019. The project was supported by the governments of Russia and China and included in the action plan within the framework of the years of Russian-Chinese scientific, technical and innovation cooperation.

The co-heads of the laboratory, Vice-President of HEU Han Duanfeng and Director of the International Cooperation Department of SPbGMTU Professor Kirill Rozhdestvensky spoke about the results and promising areas of cooperation. Members of the academic council took part in the discussion. For example, Wu Gang, an employee of Research Institute No. 708 Maric, one of the designers of the Chinese Snow Dragon icebreaker, said that he was designing equipment and machinery for the Arctic. “My supervisor studied at LSI (Leningrad Shipbuilding Institute). We have a good understanding of Russian-made icebreakers. We want to improve the level of our technology, we need new methods and concepts for the operation of ice ships,” Wu Gang said.

Professor of the Far Eastern Federal University (FEFU) Alexander Bekker emphasized that the work of the laboratory will enhance the opportunities of universities in the study of the Arctic. Kirill Sazonov, head of the laboratory of the Krylov State Research Center (KSRC), singled out for research the problem of the movement of large-capacity vessels in ice conditions, the need to calculate the characteristics of ice formations and study the properties of ice.

Professor Vladimir Tryaskin spoke about the important task of designing icebreaker structures according to new requirements for ice loads, and creating special software. Professor Vadim Goncharov spoke about research in the field of Arctic ecology and about the importance of involving students in work.

Source: https://portnews.ru/news/336143/

Icebreakers on the Northern Sea Route to amount to 13 by 2030

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September 1 2022

The icebreakers will be focused on transporting about 150 million tons per year

The grouping of icebreakers on the Northern Sea Route (NSR) will amount to at least 13 units by 2030. This was stated by Maxim Kulinko, Deputy Director of the Directorate of the Northern Sea Route of the State Corporation Rosatom, during the round table “Transport and Transit Potential of the Arctic”.

“Four icebreakers are under construction, including the Leader. There is also an instruction from the Prime Minister of Russia to additionally build two new icebreakers of the 22220 series. We plan to start building these icebreakers from 2023 at the expense of the federal budget. The corporation assumes increased obligations to build four more icebreakers for promising projects at extrabudgetary expense. There is an icebreaking arrangement along the entire route of the NSR,” Maxim Kulinko said.

He noted that these icebreakers will be able to provide the target volume of cargo traffic declared by the companies at 150 million tons per year as part of the Year-Round Northern Sea Route socio-economic development initiative.

The Northern Sea Route is the unified transport communication of Russia in the Arctic. It runs along the northern shores of the country through the seas of the Arctic Ocean (Kara, Laptev, East Siberian, Chukchi seas), connects the ports of the European part of Russia and the mouths of navigable Siberian rivers with the Far East. In August 2022, a plan for the development of the NSR until 2035 was approved, which included more than 150 events. The plan’s total funding is about 1.8 trillion rubles.

Source: https://portnews.ru/news/334774/

The Russian government to subsidize Arctic cabotage transportation

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August 16 2022

The Russian government has begun subsidizing Arctic coastal shipping between the ports of St. Petersburg, Murmansk and the terminals of the Far East. However, the Sevmorput nuclear-powered container ship, which was used for these transportations, was actually only 10% loaded. Shippers point to a weak informational component in the organization of the route.

Attempts to organize a shipping line that would connect the European part of Russia with the Far East through the Northern Sea Route have been continuing for more than a year, but so far without obvious success. Since 2019, the Sevmorput nuclear-powered container ship (lighter carrier) has made one or two voyages per summer navigation. The schedule on the route has been flexible and based on the needs of the Far East fishermen. It should be noted that this line was launched at the initiative of the Federal Agency for Fishery, which in 2018-19 faced logistical difficulties in delivering fish from the fishing grounds (Kamchatka, Sakhalin, Vladivostok) to the consumer. The loading of the voyages of the Sevmorput has always been small, which led to high transportation costs for the shipowner (FSUE Atomflot).

Thus, in today’s work of the Sevmorput, the focus remains on the transportation of fish products, but rests on the shortage of refrigerated containers. The loading of voyages with other types of cargo is extremely low. The expert community has repeatedly held public discussions about where to get cargo to load a nuclear-powered container ship. But in addition to discussions, targeted work is needed with logistics companies that are able to attract cargo.

At the same time, the government seeks to diversify shipping in the Arctic. It is necessary to transport not only raw materials along the Northern Sea Route.

In early 2022, the Russian government launched a mechanism to subsidize regular freight traffic along the Northern Sea Route. The corresponding resolution No. 397 was signed on March 18, 2022. Reduced tariffs were established for Russian shippers for the transportation of goods along the Northern Sea Route, which was supposed to attract cargo to the line. We are talking about cabotage transportation between the ports of St. Petersburg and Murmansk and the regions of the Far East.

Each year, 560 million rubles will be allocated to subsidize the work of the Arctic cargo line. In accordance with the Development Plan of the Northern Sea Route, 7.84 billion rubles in total are provided for these purposes until 2035. The Ministry for the Development of the Russian Far East and Rosatom State Corporation have been appointed responsible for organizing voyages.

Experts note that despite the low loading and organizational problems of the routes, such transportation has real potential, given the acute shortage of carrying capacity of the railway infrastructure to the Far East, as well as the low loading of the Baltic container terminals against the backdrop of Western sanctions.

Source: https://portnews.ru/comments/3223/

Icebreaker ‘Viktor Chernomyrdin’ Will Become a Passenger Icebreaker

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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.

Source: https://portnews.ru/digest/22982/

National Flag of Russia Hoisted on “Sibir” Nuclear-Powered Icebreaker

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January 25 2022

On January 25, 2022, the state flag of the Russian Federation was raised on the ‘Sibir’ (‘Siberia’) multi-purpose nuclear icebreaker of project 22220., the press service of FSUE “Atomflot” reports.

The flag raising ceremony in Murmansk was attended by Mr. Vyacheslav Ruksha, Deputy General Director of “Rosatom” State Corporation – Head of the NSR Directorate, Mr. Andrey Chibis, Governor of the Murmansk Region, Mr. Mustafa Kashka, General Director of FSUE “Atomflot”, Mr. Alexei Kadilov, General Director of “Baltiysky Zavod” shipyard and others.

“Only new icebreakers and ships can make the NSR a real road for our megaprojects in the Arctic zone. I am sure that in the coming decades the NSR will become the Russian route to India,” said Vyacheslav Ruksha.

Mustafa Kashka noted that the lead nuclear icebreaker of this class, ‘Arktika’ was already operating in the NSR Eastern sector, stressing that navigation in this sector usually stopped in November. “But the commissioning of Project 22220 icebreakers opens up new prospects for the development of the NSR. These nuclear-powered ships are the future of “Rosatomflot”, he said.

The keel-laying of “Sibir” project 22220 nuclear icebreaker took place on May 26, 2015 in St.Petersburg. The vessel was launched on September 22, 2017. On December 24, 2021, an act on the transfer of the icebreaker to “Atomflot” was signed on board the ship in St.Petersburg. On January 13, 2022, the new icebreaker left the outfitting embankment of JSC “Baltiysky Zavod” shipyard for her home port of Murmansk. On January 22, the vessel arrived at the berths of FSUE “Atomflot”.

Project 22220 multi-purpose nuclear icebreakers are the largest and most powerful in the world. Their main task is to provide year-round navigation in the Western sector of the Arctic. The main characteristics of the vessel: power – 60 MW (on shafts); speed – 22 knots (in clear water); length – 173.3 m (160 m on DWL); width – 34 m (33 m on DWL); height – 52 m; draft – 10.5 m / 8.65 m; maximum ice penetration – 2.8 m; total displacement – 33,540 tons; the designated service life is 40 years. The icebreaker is equipped with a two-reactor power plant with the main source of steam from a new-generation RITM-200 reactor plant with a capacity of 175 MW, specially designed for this vessel.

The technical design of this project was developed by the “Iceberg” Central Design Bureau in 2009.

The construction of three more project 22220 nuclear icebreakers, ‘Ural’, ‘Yakutia’ and ‘Chukotka’ continues in St.Petersburg.

Source:https://portnews.ru/news/324345/

“Uralmashzavod” will supply “Zvezda” shipyard with protective tanks for the “Leader” icebreaker

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January 12 2022

PJSC “Uralmashzavod”, part of the ”UZTM-Karteks” group is starting to manufacture metal-water protective tanks for the Project 10510 “Leader” nuclear icebreaker.

According to the company information release of January 11, a contract for the manufacture of protective metal structures worth 5.76 billion rubles was signed at the end of December by Sergey Tseluiko, general director of ”Zvezda” shipyard, and Yan Center, “UZTM-Karteks” director – general. “Uralmashzavod” will deliver two protective tanks (starboard and port) with a total weight of about 1,400 tons to the shipyard in Bolshoi Kamen in October 2023.

The metal-water protective tank consists of layers of metal, highly purified water and special concrete. The device is used to attenuate the ionizing radiation of the core of a nuclear reactor, which ensures the safe operation of the ship’s crew. Metal structures will be made of corrosion-resistant and high-strength steel of various thicknesses.

“We are grateful to the leadership of “Rosneft” and “Zvezda” shipyard for entrusting us with the manufacture of one of the most important components for the world’s largest nuclear-powered icebreaker,” Jan Center commented on the event.

Metal cutting for this new nuclear-powered icebreaker, named “Rossiya” (Russia), began in July 2020. The ship has the following characteristics: length – 209 m, width – 47.7 m, ice penetration (maximum) – 4 m, displacement approx. 69 700 t, power plant capacity – 120 MW (on shafts), cruise speed – 22 knots (in clear water)

Source: https://sudostroenie.info/novosti/35266.html

ICEBREAKER “CAPTAIN KHLEBNIKOV” WILL ESCORT VESSELS WITH CARGO FOR THE ARCTIC STATION “VOSTOK”

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October 14, 2021, PortNews

The icebreaker “Captain Khlebnikov” left the port of Vladivostok on October 6 on an expedition to deliver personnel and cargo to the Russian Antarctic research station “Vostok”. The icebreaker with 114 passengers and scientific personnel as well as 52 crewmembers onboard will travel about 7,500 miles to Tala Bay (Antarctica). The ship will return to the seaport of Vladivostok this December.

“Captain Khlebnikov” was taken over by FSUE “Rosmorport” in 2016. In September-December 2018, it operated a series of voyages with passengers from the seaport of Ushuaia (Argentina) to Snow Hill Island (Antarctica) under an agreement with “Quark Expeditions”. In July-September 2019, it performed a series of cruises with passengers from the seaport of Anadyr to Wrangel Island under an agreement with “Heritage Expeditions”.

The inland Antarctic station “Vostok” (“East”) was opened in December 1957. It has gone through two renovations and three conservations. As it is worn out by 90% and covered with snow in places, the comprehensive renovation of the facility is underway. The aerodynamic shape of the modules of the new wintering complex will protect against snow drifts, a complex insulation system is installed in the 650 mm thick walls, the windows are equipped with pressure drop compensators, and the engineering systems are protected from freezing. The lowest air temperature on the planet (-89.2 ° С) was recorded at the” Vostok” station. For almost 10 months a year, the facility operates autonomously – it is impossible to get here either by land or by air.

Source: https://portnews.ru/news/319942/