What is the biggest icebreaker ship in existence?
483060#18
In May 2007, sea trials were completed for the nuclear-powered Russian icebreaker NS . The vessel was put into service by Murmansk Shipping Company, which manages all eight Russian state-owned nuclear icebreakers. The keel was originally laid in 1989 by Baltic Works of Leningrad, and the ship was launched in 1993 as NS "Ural". This icebreaker was intended to be the sixth and last of the "Arktika" class, and currently is the world's largest icebreaker.
Icebreaker
47268788#1
The first ship, ("Арктика" – Arctic), was laid down in November 2013 and is expected to enter service in 2019. Launched on 16 June 2016, the ship will be the world's largest and the most powerful icebreaker surpassing the "50 Let Pobedy".
The second ship of this class, "Sibir" – ("Сибирь" – Siberia), was laid down on 26 May 2015 at Baltic Shipyard. On 1 July 2016, the hull of "Sibir", one third of the ship and weighing 3,500 t, was shifted to the place of the launched "Arktika" icebreaker, where construction will be completed. The shift made place for the start of the construction of the hull of the icebreaker "Ural" – ("Урал" – Ural). Construction of the Ural started on 25 July 2016.
Project 22220 icebreaker
3593553#0
The "Arktika" class is a Russian (former Soviet) class of nuclear-powered icebreakers. Formerly known as "Project 10520 nuclear-powered icebreaker", they were the largest and most powerful icebreakers until the 2016 launch of the ship named Arktika. Ships of the "Arktika" class are owned by the federal government, but were operated by the Murmansk Shipping Company (MSCO) until 2008, when they were transferred to the fully government-owned operator Atomflot. Of the ten civilian nuclear-powered vessels built by Russia (and the Soviet Union), six have been of this type. They are used for escorting merchant ships in the Arctic Ocean north of Siberia as well as for scientific and recreational expeditions to the Arctic.
Arktika-class icebreaker
483169#13
On 17 August 1977, NS "Arktika" ("Arctic") became the first surface ship ever to reach the North Pole. "Arktika" was withdrawn from service in 2008 after clocking up 175,000 hours of reactor operation time and covering more than 1 million nautical miles. Rather than be scrapped, there are calls for her to be converted to a museum ship, like her predecessor "Lenin".
Nuclear-powered icebreaker
483169#22
Russia is planning to start building new icebreakers, Project 22220 after 2010.
In June 2008 the head of the state nuclear corporation Rosatom, Sergei Kiriyenko, said "It is important to not only use the existing fleet of icebreakers, but also to build new ships, and the first nuclear icebreaker of a new generation will be built by 2015. This should be an icebreaker capable of moving in rivers and seas", he said. He went on saying that the Iceberg Design Bureau in St. Petersburg would prepare the design of the icebreaker by 2009. According to the BBC the LK-60 (ЛК60Я) will be the biggest nuclear-powered icebreaker that was ever built. Vladimir Putin said in 2010, Russia builds at least three nuclear icebreakers of the new generation in the period from 2012 to 2020. Sergei Kiriyenko, head of the state nuclear corporation Rosatom ordered the responsible operator Atomflot to build up to three nuclear icebreakers until 2016. The construction of a nuclear-powered icebreaker takes eight years, the fuel endurance is about 25 years and the reactor can be refueled. According to the Transport Ministry, Russia needs six new icebreakers in the future.
Nuclear-powered icebreaker
32494597#22
After the newest and most powerful state-owned icebreakers, "Voima" and "Jääkarhu", were handed over to Soviet Union as war reparations, Finland was left with four old steam-powered icebreakers and the small diesel-electric "Sisu", which had been rejected due to the extensive damage it had sustained in the war. The newest steam-powered icebreaker, "Tarmo", was almost 40 years old and along with the others long overdue for replacement — even the largest Finnish icebreakers were not wide and powerful enough to assist the biggest post-war cargo ships. There was also a severe shortage of coal and occasionally the Finnish icebreakers had to rely on firewood. The steam-powered icebreakers were completely overhauled for the last time in 1951–1952 when they finally received modern navigation equipment — even as late as 1952 some had neither gyrocompass, sonar nor radar — and their crew spaces were rebuilt to modern standards. There were talks about converting the furnaces of "Sampo" from coal to oil, but it was not deemed necessary as the old icebreaker was due to decommissioning in the near future.
Sampo (1898 icebreaker)
48972336#5
On 24 May 1956, Wärtsilä and Sudoimport, the Soviet foreign trade organization with a monopoly for the foreign trade of ships, signed a shipbuilding contract for the construction of two polar icebreakers. While only half as powerful as the 44,000hp "Lenin", the new icebreakers featured the most powerful diesel-electric power plant ever installed on a ship at the time. The Soviet negotiators had additional requirements for deep draught and fuel consumption, which Wahlforss promised Wärtsilä to reach. In practice, the demands put the company's engineering expertise to a tough test. At the end, however, Wärtsilä could deliver what Wahlforss had promised. Few years later, Wärtsilä received a follow-up order for three more icebreakers of the same design.
Moskva (1959 icebreaker)
6735773#0
SS "Manhattan" was an oil tanker constructed at the Fore River Shipyard in Quincy, Massachusetts that became the first commercial ship to cross the Northwest Passage in 1969. Having been built as an ordinary tanker in 1962, she was refitted for this voyage with an icebreaker bow in 1968–69. Registered in the United States at the time, she was the largest US merchant vessel as well as the biggest icebreaker in history.
SS Manhattan (1962)
35892208#1
When the Treaty of Tartu was signed on 14 October 1920, Finland agreed to return the Russian icebreakers that the Finnish White Guard had seized during the Civil War in 1918. As a result, the largest and most powerful state-owned icebreaker of Finland at that time, "Wäinämöinen", was handed over to Estonia in 1922. Since both the size of the ships calling at the Finnish winter ports and the amount of exported goods, especially forest products, had increased considerably since the First World War, there was a definite need for a large and powerful icebreaker. One of the key issues was the beam of the existing icebreakers, , which was not enough for the new ships used to transport goods across the Atlantic Ocean.
Jääkarhu
43805663#3
In 1972, the ship was among the three icebreaking escorts for a convoy of seven cargo ships travelling to Mokka Fjord and Eureka. This was the largest convoy to sail that far north. In 1974, "J.E. Bernier", with a Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Sûreté du Québec detachment on board, was sent to eject occupiers of a vessel that had went aground on Île d'Orléans in the Saint Lawrence River. As the icebreaker came alongside the grounded ship, the illegal occupiers escaped over the stern and fled. In 1976, "J.E. Bernier" transited the Panama Canal to replace on the West Coast of Canada after "Camsell" was damaged. The icebreaker spent the summer working in the western Arctic and Beaufort Sea, during which the ship supported the research vessel before severe conditions north of Alaska forced "Parizeau" to turn back. The icebreaker returned to Quebec City via the Northwest Passage, circumnavigating North America. In 1980, the icebreaker returned to the West Coast to replace "Camsell" again and to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the transfer of the Arctic archipelago to Canada from the United Kingdom. The ceremony was hosted by the Governor General of Canada Edward Schreyer aboard the icebreaker. The ship once again circumnavigated North America on her return to Quebec.
CCGS J.E. Bernier
1502748#22
The icebreaking capability of the double acting tankers proved to be superior to other ships since the beginning — in shuttle service between Primorsk, Russia, and the Finnish refineries the tankers require no icebreaker assistance and have even acted as an icebreaker for other merchant ships that have utilized the wide channel opened by the Aframax tanker. However, this has not been intentional — when the world's largest 1A Super class ice tanker "Stena Arctica", also owned by Neste Shipping, became stuck in ice outside the port of Primorsk during the winter of 2009–2010, a decision was made to leave the assisting to Russian icebreakers.
La Noumbi
483169#5
The icebreakers have also been used for a number of scientific expeditions in the Arctic. On August 17, 1977, was the first surface vessel in the world to reach the North Pole. Since 1989, some icebreakers have been used for Arctic tourist cruises.
Nuclear-powered icebreaker
483169#27
Since 1989 the nuclear-powered icebreakers have also been used for tourist purposes carrying passengers to the North Pole. Each participant pays up to US$ 25,000 for a cruise lasting three weeks. The NS "Sibir" was used for the first two tourist cruises in 1989 and 1990. In 1991 and 1992, the tourist trips to the North Pole were undertaken by NS "Sovyetski Soyuz". During the summer of 1993 the NS "Yamal" was used for three tourist expeditions in the Arctic. The NS "Yamal" has a separate accommodation section for tourists. The nuclear-powered icebreaker "50 Let Pobedy" (known in English as the "50 Years of Victory") contains an accommodation deck customised for tourists.
Nuclear-powered icebreaker