The universal nuclear icebreaker of Project 22220, "Siberia," ensured a record number of ice convoys in the Gulf of Finland — 165 ships in one month. This is almost twice as many as the nuclear icebreakers "50 Years of Victory" and "Russia" showed in a similar situation 14 years ago.
At the request of the Ministry of Transport, "Siberia" was transferred to the Gulf of Finland in mid-February. The task was to unblock ships stuck in the ice near the ports of St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region, primarily large-capacity tankers and dry cargo ships. Thanks to the impressive dimensions of the icebreaker (34 meters wide), it confidently guided ships up to 48 meters wide, including oil tanker giants.
The Director General of Rosatom, Alexey Likhachev, noted that the mission was fully completed. He thanked the entire crew and personally Captain Konstantin Kelarev for their excellent work. The icebreaker has already left the Baltic Sea: on March 17, it set course for Murmansk and is now approaching Kaliningrad.
Now "Siberia" is returning to the Northern Sea Route, where the peak of complexity for Arctic navigation traditionally occurs in March–May. Strengthening the group of nuclear icebreakers with this powerful vessel should significantly facilitate ensuring uninterrupted traffic along the Northern Sea Route.