Operation of Leader class icebreaker can prove to be inefficient for escorting certain types of ships
Escorting of large ships by such an icebreaker is probably a sub-optimal decision
Deployment of an icebreaker of Leader class can prove to be inefficient for escorting ships of certain types, IAA PortNews correspondent cites Atomenergomash Project Manager Aleksey Dobrodeyev who spoke at the Arctic - Regions forum in Arkhangelsk about the concept of using gas carrier of Project 10070М being currently designed.
The Leader class icebreaker is able to make a 50-meter wide canal. “The issue of escorting ships with a hull width equivalent to the with of the ice canal should be considered separately since this mode of passage can prove to be inefficient,” said Aleksey Dobrodeyev referring to data obtained in the course of operation of large ships in the Arctic.
The lead nuclear-powered icebreaker of Project 10510, Rossiya (ЛК-120Я, Leader) was laid down on 6 July 2020. The state customer under the shipbuilding contract is Rosatom, builder – FSUE Atomflot, sole contractor - SC Zvezda (Bolshoy Kamen, Primorsky Territory). The new icebreaker’s length will be 210 m, width — 47 m, draft — 13 m.
The ship will have nuclear power system equipped with two RITM-400 reactors (1.8 times as powerful as RITM-200 reactor installed on nuclear-powered icebreakers of Project 22220 (lead ship - Arktika). That will let the icebreaker break through 4-meter thick ice. The nuclear-powered icebreaker will be able to make a channel of up to 50 meters wide to ensure economically efficient year-round operation of large cargo ships on the Northern Sea Route.
A total of three nuclear-powered icebreakers of Leader type were planned for construction. As Alexei Besrozvannykh, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade of Russia, told IAA PortNews, the lead ship is to be put into operation in December 2027. Keel-laying of two more icebreakers was scheduled for 2023 and 2025 with their commissioning expected in 2030 and in 2032 respectively. In February 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed executive order No 126 “On Introduction of Amendments into the Strategy for Developing the Russian Arctic Zone and Ensuring National Security until 2035 Approved by the Order of the President of the Russian Federation No 645 as of 26 October 2020”, that foresees the construction of one nuclear-powered icebreaker of Leader type instead of three units foreseen earlier.
