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With its 25 MW capacity, the new icebreaker is the most powerful non-nuclear icebreaker in the world. But it will not yet allow the Arctic to have its main operating area.
The ship named after the late Russian prime minister will serve in the Gulf of Finland and the Baltic Sea, reports the country’s United Shipbuilding Corporation.
According to the shipowners, the 147-meter-long ship capable of breaking ice up to three meters thick is destined for the Gulf of Finland. But it can also work in the Arctic and Antarctic, adds the Corporation.
The flag was raised on the ship at a ceremony in St. Petersburg on December 3. In the place was President Putin, who in a statement stressed that Viktor Chernomyrdin can also be applied on the Northern Sea Route.
In his speech, Putin emphasized that Russia must keep up the pressure on the development of the Arctic.
“Our leadership [in the Arctic] must be constantly reaffirmed, every day, and our positions expanded, strengthened and renewed fleet with new leading technologies in the construction of icebreakers and other ice-class vessels, ”said the President at the ceremony.
The Viktor Chernomyrdin will be operated by the state port company Rosmorport. It is built by Baltic Yard and Admiralty Yard in Saint Petersburg.
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Construction began in 2012 and was originally due to be completed in 2015.
The 29-meter-wide and 147-meter-long ship is capable of breaking three-meter-thick ice and remaining autonomously at sea for up to 60 days. It is the only ship built with Project 22600 (LK-25).
Construction has been marred by numerous technical problems and delays, as well as cost overruns.
Sources in the Russian shipbuilding industry in 2019 said that the total construction cost will exceed 12 billion rubles (€ 139 million), up from the original budget of 7.95 billion (€ 92 million).
