Russia makes progress with Arctica icebreaker

The forebody of the hull of the pilot nuclear icebreaker Arctica - the so-called Project 22220, or LK-60 series of icebreakers - has been completed at the slipway of the Baltic Shipyard in Saint Petersburg, Russia.

The forebody of the hull of the pilot nuclear icebreaker Arctica - the so-called Project 22220, or LK-60 series of icebreakers - has been completed at the slipway of the Baltic Shipyard in Saint Petersburg, Russia.

The forebody of Arctica's hull (Image: Baltic Shipyard)

The shipyard said yesterday that the 75.5-tonne forebody will be the first part of the vessel to break the ice of the Northern Sea Route.

"As of today, 70% of the work on assembling the hull of the icebreaker has been completed [which] is in line with the approved construction schedule," project leader Sergey Chernogubovsky said.

The Project 22220 nuclear-powered icebreaker is a class of three under construction at the shipyard. The Arctica will be the first to enter service, which is expected in two years’ time.

It will become the world's biggest and the most powerful icebreaker, beating the current leader, another Russian vessel - 50 Years of Victory.

Tenders were called for building this, the first of the LK-60 series, in mid-2012, and the contract was awarded to Baltic Shipyard. The keel of Arctica was laid in November 2013 and it is to be delivered to Atomflot by the end of 2017. A contract for two more vessels was let in May 2014 to the same shipyard.

The LK-60 vessel is to be dual-draught - 10.5 meter with full ballast tanks, minimum 8.55 meter at 25,540 tonnes - displacing up to 33,530 tonnes. It is 173 meters long, 34 meters wide, and designed to break through 3 meters thick ice at up to two knots. The wider 33 meter beam at waterline is to match the 70,000-tonne ships it is designed to clear a path for, though a few of these with reinforced hulls are already using the Northern Sea Route.

The LK-60 will be powered by two RITM-200 reactors of 175 MWt each using low-enriched fuel (<20%), which together deliver 60 MW at the three propellers via twin turbine-generators and three motors. At 65% capacity factor refuelling is every seven to ten years, overhaul at 20 years, service life 40 years. ZIO-Podolsk started assembling the first reactor vessel early in 2015.

The LK-60 is designed to operate in the Western Arctic - in the Barents, Pechora and Kara Seas, as well as in shallow water of the Yenissei River and Ob Bay, for year-round pilotage (also as tug) of tankers, dry-cargo ships and vessels with special equipment to mineral resource development sites on the Arctic shelf. The Yamal LNG project is expected to need 200 shipping movements per year from Sabetta at the mouth of the Ob River. The vessel will have a smaller crew than its predecessors - just 62.

Researched and written
by World Nuclear News