The readiness of the icebreaker was reported at the Baltic Shipyard in St. Petersburg during a visit to the enterprise by the Assistant to the President of Russia, Chairman of the Marine Board Nikolai Patrushev. He visited the hull processing, assembly and welding shops, the special energy shop, the slipway, as well as the stocks and the outfitting embankment.
The Baltic Shipyard is the only one in the country with the competence to build surface ships and vessels with nuclear power plants. The importance of fulfilling plans for the further development of the enterprise is due to the state tasks of ensuring national interests in the Arctic. The state is interested in the further development of the plant and the use of its capabilities in the interests of ensuring technological sovereignty in the field of shipbuilding.
According to the General Director of the enterprise, Alexander Konovalov, the construction of the fourth icebreaker "Yakutia" of Project 22220 is being completed, the fifth icebreaker of this project "Chukotka" is being prepared for launching, and the section of the sixth icebreaker "Leningrad", laid down in 2024 by President Vladimir Putin, is being actively built.
In total, seven nuclear icebreakers of Project 22220 will operate on the Northern Sea Route by 2030. These are the largest and most powerful icebreaking vessels in the world. Their main task is to ensure year-round navigation in the western Arctic region.
According to the Baltic Shipyard, an enlarged block of the bow end of the vessel has already been loaded onto the universal nuclear icebreaker "Chukotka". Soon the Baltic people will finish forming the hull of the icebreaker, after which the vessel will be ready for launching.
The block includes a stem weighing 178 tons, which will allow it to break through ice up to 3 meters thick. The installation of the block completed the formation of the ice belt of the icebreaker. The belt, which is about 3 meters wide, bears the maximum load when the vessel is piled on the ice. To ensure the special strength of the section, special steel with a thickness of 45 mm is assembled in this part of the nuclear-powered ship.
The nuclear-powered ship "Chukotka" will be launched before the end of 2024.
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