Designers belonging to Russia's state-owned United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC) have unveiled images of a new container vessel capable of navigating along the Northern Sea Route, the 5,600-kilometre Arctic shipping corridor that provides the shortest possible passage between Asia and Europe.
Following completion, the vessel will be operated by Rosatom Arctic, a shipping division under Russian state-owned atomic energy firm Rosatom.
The ship will have a capacity of 4,800 TEUs and a hull reinforced to Arc7 ice class requirements to permit safe navigation through surface ice of between 1.5 and 1.7 metres in thickness.
Boris Bogomolov, Deputy General Director for Engineering at USC, said the vessel's design was selected from among six options that differed in layout, propulsion arrangement, and the type of fuel required.
Bogomolov remarked that an analysis conducted in collaboration with Rosatom led to the selection of what the partners believed was the most optimal design with regards to capacity and efficiency.
