[Regnum] The official ceremony of raising the national flag took place on the universal nuclear icebreaker Yakutia at the Baltic Shipyard of the United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC) in Saint Petersburg. This was reported on December 28 by the press service of USC.
"Today, thanks to the efforts of our shipbuilders, the world's largest Russian icebreaker fleet will be replenished with another nuclear-powered vessel, the Yakutia. It will be a continuation of the series of new-generation icebreakers that have been launched from the Baltic Shipyard since 2016," said Anton Alikhanov, head of the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade, during the ceremony.
He noted that the shipyard team is constantly increasing the lead time for each new vessel, since it took seven and a half years to build the lead icebreaker Arktika, a year less for the first two serial ones, and only four years to build the icebreaker Yakutia.
“All this is due to the fact that the enterprise successfully optimizes production processes, increases the level of automation and the speed of deliveries along cooperative chains,” explained the head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade.
The icebreaker is the fourth and third serial vessel of Project 22 220, created at the Baltic Shipyard, and differs from its predecessors by large-scale import substitution during construction. The equipment and components of the icebreaker were quickly replaced with domestic ones, and thanks to new elements of the production system introduced at the enterprise, the construction time of the icebreaker was significantly reduced.
The vessel's hull is made of durable, corrosion-resistant steel, protected from ice formation and ice adhesion, and is capable of breaking through ice up to 3 m thick. The icebreaker's nuclear power plant consists of two RITM-200 water-cooled nuclear reactors developed in the Russian Federation. The thermal capacity of each reactor is 175 MW, and the service life is 40 years.
Icebreakers of project 22 220 are the largest and most powerful in the world. They are designed to ensure year-round navigation in the western Arctic. Three icebreakers built at the Baltic Shipyard are currently in successful operation: Arktika, Sibir and Ural.
As reported by the Regnum news agency, a ceremonial launch of the nuclear icebreaker Chukotka took place at the Baltic Shipyard on November 6. The Governor of St. Petersburg, Alexander Beglov, was present, and a live broadcast with Russian President Vladimir Putin took place.
On December 4, at the plenary session of the VTB investment forum "Russia Calling!" Putin said that the volume of transportation along the North-South transport corridor will increase. The head of state emphasized that Russia has a whole program for the construction of ice-class vessels and icebreakers.