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Russia’s newest Novorossiysk icebreaker completes first Arctic voyage

Project 21900M icebreaker returned to the port of Murmansk to prepare for a new journey to begin Saturday

MURMANSK, February 11. /TASS/. Russia’s Project 21900M icebreaker Novorossiysk has completed its first Arctic voyage and returned to the port of Murmansk to prepare for a new journey to begin Saturday, the port’s press service said.

"During the first Arctic journey that lasted slightly more than a week, the icebreaker delivered more than 160 metric tons of cargo to the Alexandra Land island," officials said.

The icebreaker also successfully escorted a ship with 200 passengers on board.

Once a new batch of 187 metric tons cargo, comprising mostly construction materials and radio equipment, is loaded, the vessel will travel to the Alexandra Land, the westernmost island of the Franz Josef Archipelago. During the journey, to begin on Saturday, the ship will also escort a tanker to the island.

In late February, the Novorossiysk is expected to start leading heavy-tonnage ships between the ports of Arkhangelsk and Kandalaksha in the ice-covered White Sea.

The Project 21900M icebreaker Novorossiysk was built by the Vyborg Shipyard in cooperation with Arctech Helsinki Shipyard by order of Russia’s Agency for Sea and Inland Water Transport (Rosmorrechflot). It entered service in St. Petersburg in northwest Russia on December 26, 2016.

Two Project 21900M icebreakers Vladivostok and Murmansk have been operating in the Baltic Sea and in the Arctic.

The icebreaker Novorossiysk is planned to be used in the Baltic Sea in winter and in Arctic seas in summer and autumn.

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