ST. PETERSBURG, November 6. /TASS/. A solemn ceremony of floating the Chukotka universal nuclear-powered icebreaker of Project 22220 will take place at the Baltic Shipyard (part of the United Shipbuilding Corporation) in St. Petersburg on November 6, the plant's press service wrote on Telegram.
"The Chukotka nuclear-powered icebreaker will be floated. The Chukotka icebreaker is the fifth vessel (fourth serial) of Project 22220, which the Baltic Shipyard builds under a contract with the Rosatom State Corporation. The vessel was laid in December, 2020," the press service wrote.
Project 22220 universal nuclear-powered icebreakers are the largest and most powerful icebreaking vessels in the world. They play a key role in ensuring year-round navigation along the Northern Sea Route thus contributing to the socio-economic development of the Russian Federation's Arctic Zone.
The icebreakers can escort large-tonnage vessels, can participate in rescue operations and operate both on the high seas and in shallow waters. This series has unique capabilities that are strategic in the North's development, in supporting navigation and in ensuring Russia's independence in the region.
Three icebreakers of Project 22220 have been built - the mainstay icebreaker the Arctic, serial icebreakers the Sibir and the Ural that have been operating in polar waters to ensure the Northern Sea Route's year-round navigation. Right now, the Baltic Shipyard, in addition to the Chukotka, is building the Yakutia, the Leningrad and the Stalingrad vessels.