Iceberg, the design bureau responsible for Russia’s fleet of nuclear-powered icebreakers, has unveiled plans for a new series of special purpose vessels to help develop the Arctic regions.
The installation that is to be able to drift autonomously for up to two years in thick Arctic sea-ice is on its way to Murmansk as part of its first voyage to the North.
Two milestones for Russia’s first icebreaker of the giant Leader-class are reached in August: The first reactor pressure vessel is ready and contract for metal to the bow is signed.
A three-year study on the impact of the Soviet Union’s oil usage on Franz Josef Land led scientists to conclude that the USSR’s environmental impacts on the archipelago are insignificant.
Rosatom engages the world’s only civilian nuclear-powered cargo vessels for yet another year on voyages between St. Petersburg and Petropavlovsk, but the transportation needs seem to be well below expectations.
The Russian Embassy in Oslo warns of a humanitarian emergency at the country’s mining society on Svalbard this coming winter if Norway doesn’t open its land border at Storskog for two containers with seven tons of food supplies from Murmansk.
Arctic security was among the top issues discussed at the Northern Group meeting in Reykjavik this week, the member countries’ defence ministers said in a joint statement.
The entry of Sweden and Finland in the alliance could lead to certain "adjustments" in Arctic cooperation, says Russia's top representative in the international forum.
International sanctions threaten the country's supply chains. Nuclear-powered container ship "Sevmorput" will this year play key role in delivering goods to remote Arctic towns.
Logistics chains falter, investors flee and foreign markets vanish. But President Putin argues that Russia together with countries from "outside the region" will continue to forge ahead with Arctic development.
"We have all the resources and all the opportunities to quickly find alternative solutions," Putin told the participants of the meeting on the development of the Arctic zone.
As Russia continued its second day of attacks on Ukraine, the ambassadors of Sweden and Finland have pulled out of an upcoming Arctic conference in Canada where Russian officials are also scheduled to attend.