ST. PETERSBURG, February 7. /TASS/. The world’s biggest and most powerful non-nuclear icebreaker Viktor Chernomyrdin will be used as a passenger vessel for Arctic cruises. The icebreaker will take onboard up to 93 passengers at a time, press service of the sea port authority, Rosmorport, told TASS.
"After the upgrade, the Viktor Chernomyrdin icebreaker’s class specification will read "Passenger ship" and she will be able to transport 93 passengers," the press service said. "The icebreaker will serve Arctic cruises and transport passengers at the times the vessel is free from its chartered services."
The upgrade is due to be completed before April 1, according to the state purchases’ web portal. The contract’s cost is 4.2 million rubles ($55,000).
The contractor will install on the icebreaker additional lights, upgraded safety systems, and will do some other works, after which the Viktor Chernomyrdin will obtain the official class of a passenger vessel.
The Project 22600 icebreaker was built at the Admiralty Shipyard from December, 2012. It is the world’s only project of a new-generation innovative diesel-electric icebreaker with the propulsion power of 25 megawatts, of the Icebreaker8 class. The icebreaker’s speed in clean water may be up to 17.8 knots, it may break ice of up to 2 meters at the speed of 2 knots. The vessel may work in various parts of the Arctic and Antarctic. The icebreaker may work amid the ice of up to 3 meters thick.
The national ensign was flown on the icebreaker in November, 2020. In January, 2021, the Viktor Chernomyrdin made the maiden voyage - it led vessels, including high-tonnage tankers, in the Gulf of Finland to seaports of Vyborg, Vysotsk and Primorsk.