ST. PETERSBURG. Nov 6 (Interfax) - Baltic Shipyard (included in the United Shipbuilding Corporation, USC) has floated out the Project 22220 Chukotka nuclear-powered icebreaker, an Interfax correspondent has reported from the ceremony.
"The Chukotka nuclear-powered icebreaker will become the fourth Project 22220 icebreaker, two other icebreakers of this project are now being built in St. Petersburg. The keel of the Stalingrad icebreaker will be laid down next year. At the same time, the construction of the Leader project Russia icebreaker is taking place in the Far East at Zvezda shipyard. The creation of such powerful, modern vessels is another embodiment of the personnel, scientific and industrial potential of Russia. Our plans to develop the Northern Sea Route, to increase the cargo transportation volume on the Northern Sea Route depend on the strengthening of the country's icebreaker fleet," Russian President Vladimir Putin told the ceremony participants by videoconference.
As reported, the ceremony to lay down the keel of the Chukotka took place at Baltic Shipyard in December 2020. The icebreaker is expected to be commissioned by the end of December 2026.
Project 22220 icebreakers are intended for guiding vessels in the Arctic, in areas from the Yenisei and the Gulf of Ob, for towing vessels and other floating structures in ice and in clear water, and also for achieving other tasks. The power of the icebreakers is 60 megawatt.
The keel of the lead Project 22220 Arctic nuclear-powered icebreaker was laid down at Baltic Shipyard in November 2013, and it was commissioned in October 2020. The contract for the construction of the next icebreakers, the Siberia and the Ural, was signed by the shipyard and the Rosatom state corporation in May 2014. The Siberia icebreaker joined Russia's nuclear-powered fleet in December 2021, and the Ural joined it in November 2022.
Besides the Chukotka, Baltic Shipyard is now building the Leningrad nuclear-powered icebreaker, whose keel was laid down on January 26, 2024, and the Yakutia icebreaker, whose keel was laid down in May 2020.
When the keel of the Leningrad icebreaker was laid down in January 2024, Putin said the construction of another vessel of this class, the Stalingrad, would start next year.
Baltic Shipyard specializes in the construction of icebreakers and other civilian vessels.