#ARCTIC. #SIBERIA. THIS IS TAIMYR. The largest and most powerful diesel-electric icebreaker Victor Chernomyrdin anchored in the roadstead of the Murmansk seaport after successfully completing ice trials in the eastern part of the Kara sea, the Rosmorport press service reportes.
During the test, the icebreaker confirmed the ability to move in a continuous ice field up to two meters thick, as well as perform icebreaking operations with ice up to three meters thick.
The multifunctional innovative vessel left the Big Port of St. Petersburg for trials on April 17, 2022 and arrived to Murmansk on May 17. Within a month, the icebreaker covered 5 372 nautical miles and five seas: the Baltic, Northern, Norwegian, Barents and Kara seas.
During the expedition, the Victor Chernomyrdin icebreaker, in difficult ice conditions, berthed the Northern Sea Route nuclear-powered lighter carrier in the Yenisey Bay to the ice berth. The total length of the formed channel was more than 27 nautical miles.
On the way back, the icebreaker passed near the Novaya Zemlya archipelago in order to optimally take into account the forecast of the drift of ice fields and the approach of the cyclone front. During the exit from the ice fields, the Victor Chernomyrdin icebreaker successfully completed a maneuvering element – a turn in clear water using azipods.
Victor Chernomyrdin is currently the world’s most powerful non-nuclear icebreaker, the flagship of the world’s largest icebreaking fleet of Rosmorport, which includes 35 icebreakers of various classes and specializations. It develops a power of 25 megawatts on propellers, has an Icebreaker8 ice class, and is capable of speeds up to 17.8 knots in clear water. Autonomy of work is up to 60 days. The ship was designed by Russian designers and built by domestic shipbuilders in cooperation with the enterprises of JSC United Shipbuilding Company in St. Petersburg.
Earlier, we reported about the construction of two more nuclear-powered icebreakers.
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Text: Denis Kozhevnikov, Photo: www.istockphoto.com
