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Russia's new diesel electric icebreakers to be tested in Northern Sea Route — shipyard

Performance data of vessels can only be tested in extreme conditions
The Vladivostok icebreaker Alexander Demyanchuk/TASS
The Vladivostok icebreaker
© Alexander Demyanchuk/TASS

ST. PETERSBURG, April 5. /TASS/. The new Vladivostok and Murmansk diesel electric icebreakers built at the Vyborg Shipyard will undergo trials in harsh environment of the Northern Sea Route, Chief Executive of the Shipyard Alexander Solovyov told TASS on Tuesday.

"We need heavy ice; we will look for ice ridges and thick fast ice. Performance data of vessels can only be tested in extreme conditions," Solovyov said.

Vessels departed today from the Gulf of Finland to Murmansk and then to water areas in the West Arctic Sector, where attainable speed in ice and operation of engines and mechanisms will be tested.

New icebreakers have improved characteristics with addressed track record of prior series vessels. Their primary tasks are independent escorting of heavy-tonnage vessels, fire extinguishing at floating installations and other structures, assistance to ships in distress and carriage of useful load.