World’s biggest icebreaker on the water
Several hundred people assembled on the Saint Petersburg waterfront as the Baltic Yard today launched the «Arktika».
A string of Russian political big shots were on site as the world’s biggest icebreaker slid from the slipway into the local waters of the Baltic Yard.
«Today’s event is truly a huge victory […] The icebreaker «Arktika» opens new opportunities for our country!» Rosatom leader Sergey Kirienko said in the ceremony, the shipyard informs.
More than 700 people have been working around the clock to finish the hull of the vessel – the first of Russia’s new generation nuclear-powered icebreakers. The LK-60 (project 22220) vessels will be 173 meters long, 34 meters wide, and able to break through three meters thick ice.
According to Rosatomflot General Director Vyacheslav Ruksha, the «Arktika» will be ready for operations by end December 2017. That is several months ahead of the original schedule.
The new LK-60 is equipped by the RITM-200 nuclear propulsion unit with two 175 MW capacity reactors. That makes it the world’s by far most powerful ship of its kind.
