The nuclear icebreaker "Sibir" of Project 22220 continues to operate in the Gulf of Finland, where the ice situation this winter turned out to be more difficult than predicted — the crew has already conducted 126 large-capacity vessels, Rosatom reports on March 12, 2026.
The icebreaking season in the Baltic began in the first days of January. By mid-March, the group includes 13 vessels: 6 linear and 7 port icebreakers. "Sibir" was additionally involved — together with the icebreaker "Murmansk" — due to unusually dense ice. In total, since the beginning of navigation, the vessels have been piloted 2185 times, the waiting time did not exceed the planned indicators. The Ice Operations Headquarters operates around the clock: it monitors the location and course of vessels using satellite data and ice maps.
According to the Ice Operations Headquarters of the FSBI "AMP of the Baltic Sea", as of March 9, the ice thickness at the main ports of the region reached 30 centimeters — in the water areas of the Big Port of St. Petersburg, Vyborg, Vysotsk, Ust-Luga and Primorsk. The ice is thinner to Rodsher Island — about 15 centimeters. Active destruction of the ice cover is predicted only in the second half of March, drift and ice movement are possible in April.
The head of the Ministry of Transport, Andrei Nikitin, who visited St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region, set the task of preventing a decrease in cargo turnover during the melting period, the ministry's press service reported on March 10. So far, the situation has already hit exporters: due to the ice situation, Russian shippers have faced a slowdown in shipments.
"Sibir" is a universal nuclear icebreaker of Project 22220, the largest in the world among those in operation. Length — 173.3 meters, width — 34 meters, power — 60 MW. The icebreaker is capable of overcoming ice up to 3 meters thick and operating both on deep-sea routes and in the shallow estuaries of Siberian rivers. The main specialization is the Northern Sea Route, work in the Gulf of Finland has become an atypical task for the nuclear-powered ship.
Following the results of the season, the Ministry of Transport changed the planning logic: the arrangement of icebreakers will now be formed in April, and not in autumn — in order to more accurately determine the need for the fleet and respond quickly to emergency situations. This decision records that the winter of 2025–2026 exposed the limit of accuracy of long-term ice forecasts in the Baltic — and forced Russia to use the Arctic reserve where it was not previously required.