Russia's newest nuclear-powered icebreaker sails on maiden operational voyage

Russian nuclear energy company Rosatom, through its Atomflot vessel operating division, commenced operational sailings of the new nuclear-powered icebreaker Yakutia on Tuesday, April 15.

Built by Baltic Shipyard, the icebreaker will initially be deployed in the Kara Sea, where she will support cargo vessels transiting the Yenisei district.

Yakutia recently arrived at her homeport of Murmansk following a final series of necessary tests conducted late last month.

The vessel is the fourth icebreaker to be built under the Project 22220 series. These ships were originally designed in the 1990s to replace Russia's ageing fleet of icebreakers, nearly all of which were still dependent on 1960s technology.

Design work on the Project 22220 icebreakers progressed to the point that they became the largest vessels of their kind ever built, with each vessel displacing approximately 33,000 tonnes and measuring 173.3 metres long and 34 metres wide.

Like her sisters, Yakutia has a projected service life of 40 years and its main area of operations will encompass the western Arctic regions off Russia.