Cargo vessel sinks with reactor hatches to Rossiya icebreaker
The sinking of the Russian cargo vessel Ursa Major in the Mediterranean is a big blow to the construction of Rosatomflot’s giant icebreaker which already is years behind schedule.
The state-owned ship sank in international waters between Spain and Algeria on December 23. 14 members of the crew were rescued, while two are still missing.
The Ursa Major belongs to Oborologistics LLC, a Defense Ministry structure aimed at transporting military and special purpose goods.
Up North, the vessel is known for sailing cargo to Russia’s Arctic petroleum projects as well as military infrastructure cargo from Murmansk to Franz Josef Land. The vessel has also been running weapons between Russia's Black Sea ports and Moscow's (former) navy stronghold in the Syrian port of Tartus.
This time, she was heading to Vladivostok with cargo from St. Petersburg, according to the tracking data posted on VesselFinder.
Among the cargo was two big cranes, photos of vessel shows. Newspaper Kommersant also confirms that Ursa Major had the two 45-tons hatches to cover the top of the two reactors for a new icebreaker.
Such hatches are used when maintenance work on the reactors are needed, like reloading of spent nuclear fuel.
The two heavy hatches can be seen on photos of the Ursa Major before sinking, covered under blue tarp in the rear end of the cargo deck. It is unclear if there are more gear to the nuclear-powered icebreaker onboard the sunken vessel.
Russia has only one nuclear powered icebreaker under construction in the Far East, the giant 120 MW Rossiya of Project 10510.
Rosatomflot has a live webcam showing the dock at the yard in Bolsoi Kamen near Vladivostok where the hull of Rossiya is built. Not much progress is seen since the contract was signed in April 2000.
In April this year, reports could tell that construction of the vessel will be far more expensive than first agreed. Delays are many, and few believes the giant icebreaker will be delivered by 2027 as agreed on in the contract.
The first pressure vessel for one of the two RITM-400 reactors was ready in 2022. What the loss of the two reactor hatches will mean for the progress is to early to say.
The two reactor onboard will be the most powerful ever built for civilian shipping. Only US Naval reactors powering the Nimitz-, and Gerald R. Ford classes of aircraft carriers are larger.
RITM-400 is a scaled-up version of the RITM-200 reactor design that is powering the latest Project 22220 icebreakers of which the Arktika, Sibir and Ural are delivered.
Compared with RITM-200 the new version is 1,8 times more powerful, and the onboard nuclear plant will deliver 315 MW of thermal power.
Like Russia’s other nuclear-powered icebreakers, the new Rossiya will be based in Murmansk, but mainly operate along the Northern Sea Route. Rosatomflot has previously said the plan is to engage the most powerful icebreakers to crush through the East Siberia Sea and Chukchi Sea where the ice is thickest.
With capabilities to break the ice mid-winter, Russia hopes to boost LNG shipping from the Yamal region to markets in Asia.
The icebreakers can open a channel up to 50 meters wide even when ice is up to 4,3 meters thick. That would make it possible to sail the largest LNG-tankers between Yamal and the Bering Strait.
At 2 meter thick ice, the vessel will be able to sail up to 12 knots.
