Answer - A Russian Arktika Class Icebreaker working in the Arctic.
Mike Hood, of Lloyds List writes the interesting article, below, on the latest nuclear powered Arktika Class Russian icebreaker, operated by experienced Arctic ice navigators, Murmansk Shipping Company. Check out the videos of sea trials, (on the right) from YouTube, of this impressive ship.
Specifications of 50 Let Pobedy (English - 50th anniversary of Victory)
Builder: Baltic Works, Leningrad, USSR/Saint Petersburg, Russia
Laid down: October 4, 1989
Commissioned: 2007
Homeport: Murmansk, Russia
Class and type: Ice breaker, Arktika class
Displacement: 25,000 metric tons
Length: 159.6 m (522 feet)
Beam: 30 m (28 m at the waterline)
Propulsion: 75,000 h.p.
Power plant: 2 nuclear reactors, Model OK-900A capable of producing 171 MW each
Steam output: 240 tons per hour x 2
Speed: up to 21.4 knots
Complement: 138 crew members
Cost of "bunkering": $14 million USD
Life expectancy: 30 - 35 years
Check out this page for the power plant specs.
Russian nuclear icebreaker to make North Pole cruise debut
US cruise operator Quark Expeditions has chartered the world’s largest icebreaker, the 2007-delivered Russian nuclear-powered 50 Let Pobedy, for three cruises from Murmansk to the North Pole this summer, writes Sandra Speares.
The Murmansk Shipping Co-owned icebreaker, the largest of the Arktika-class and the most powerful and modern of its type in the world, has just been refitted to carry passengers and now features an aft passenger saloon, forward lounge, bar, library, gym, shop and indoor swimming pool. A total of 128 passengers can be carried in 64 cabins in five different classes.
The maiden North Pole cruise of 50 Let Pobedy is a 16-day fly-cruise from June 23-July 8. Passengers will be flown from Helsinki to Murmansk and back via aircraft. The two remaining cruises include another 16-day trip from July 6-July 21 and a 17-day trip from July 19-August 4.
The main role for 50 Let Pobedy is to keep free the vital Northern Sea routes in Russia, which are critical for the economic future of Russia’s Far North and the Arctic regions of Siberia. One of the principal routes to be maintained is the key link between Murmansk and Dudenka used by Norilsk Nickel’s fleet.
Propulsion for 50 Let Pobedy comes from two nuclear power plants which generate steam, giving a power output of 75,000 hp and providing a speed of 18 knots. She can maintain a speed of three knots in ice 2.8 m thick. Although an ‘old’ design (it took 20 years to build) the vessel features the latest in nuclear safety equipment and is the first icebreaker to feature a ‘spoon-type’ bow.
Quark Expeditions is a leader in polar cruises and charters in a fleet of specialised vessels. It includes the diesel-powered Russian icebreaker Kapitan Khlebnikov, which operates Arctic cruises; three Russian owned adventure ships Akademik Ioffe, Akademik Shokalskiy and Akademik Sergey Vavilov, which undertake Canadian Arctic voyages; and three expedition-type vessels, Ocean Nova, Lyubov Orlova and Clipper Adventurer.
An additional write up can be found here, and more pictures here.
Pictured right - is the reactor operating training facility in St Petersburg.Labels: Arctic, around the world, Fuel, Nuclear Ship
US cruise operator Quark Expeditions has chartered the world’s largest icebreaker, the 2007-delivered Russian nuclear-powered 50 Let Pobedy, for three cruises from Murmansk to the North Pole this summer, writes Sandra Speares.