The Russian nuclear icebreaker "Arktika" of Project 22220 for the first time in history performed a vessel escort in the Greenland sector of the Arctic Ocean — one of the most challenging areas for navigation in the Arctic.
Rosatom's nuclear-powered vessel came to the aid of the ice-resistant platform "Severny Polyus," which was drifting among multi-year ice and could not independently reach open water. To do this, the crew had to clear a path through fields of two-year and multi-year ice 3 to 5 meters thick.
In total, the convoy covered 392.7 nautical miles, and the operation concluded approximately 50 miles west of Svalbard.
Before this, nuclear icebreakers had not provided icebreaking escorts in the Greenland sector of the Arctic. Navigation is practically absent in this area due to severe ice conditions.
According to him, the crew performed a truly delicate job, confirming the ability of Russian nuclear icebreakers to operate in any area of the Arctic Ocean.
"Arktika" became the first serial icebreaker of Project 22220. The 173-meter long vessel was launched in 2016; it is equipped with two RITM-200 reactors with a total capacity of 60 MW and is capable of breaking through ice almost 3 meters thick in continuous mode.