Atomic icebreakers to accompany biggest oil tanker ever along Northern Sea Route

For this first time in history, the atomic icebreakers, the 50 Years of Victory and the Yamal, will pilot a major gas-condensate tanker, the Vladimir Tikhonov, through the Northern Sea Route (NSR), Vladimir Arutyunyan, head of the Directorate for Prospective Development of Fleet Operations, FSUE Rosatomflot, State Corporation Rosatom, told RIA Novosti.

“We will lead the biggest steamer in the history of the atomic fleet. The size of the Sovkomflot tanker exceeds that of the biggest atomic-powered ship. The vessel, which is 280 meters long, 50 meters wide and has a draft of 13 meters, will be led by two icebreakers, the 50 Years of Victory and the Yamal,” he said.

“The Vladimir Tikhonov, with a deadweight capacity of over 162,000 tons and Suezmax dimensions has been chartered by NOVATEK to haul 120,000 tons of gas condensate. She will come to Murmansk from Norway on August 19 and perform the bunkering. Accompanied by the 50 Years of Victory, she will leave the Kola Bay on August 20. The atomic icebreaker has just come back to Murmansk from the season’s last tourist voyage to the North Pole.

“The Yamal will be waiting for them off the Novossibirsk Islands, where there is more ice. Generally we don’t expect any problems from this voyage, because this is a well-tested route. The captains already have experience piloting several major tankers, and now is the most favorable time for making a passage in the NSR: there is no heavy ice at all,” he stressed.

In late 2010, Rosatomflot, Sovkomflot and NOVATEK succeeded in accomplishing the experimental piloting of a large-capacity gas-condensate tanker, the Baltika, he added. For the first time in the NSR’s history the atomic icebreakers  the 50 Years of Victory and the Taimyr piloted through ice, from Murmansk to Pevek, a tanker with a deadweight capacity of 60,000 tons.

“This was the beginning of active operations in the NSR by atomic icebreakers and major tankers. But the Baltika is actually twice as small as the Vladimir Tikhonov. The current pilotage is a regular one, but in terms of the vessel’s size it’s record-breaking,” he said.

At an average of 13-14 knots an hour, the tanker, accompanied by the two atomic icebreakers, is due to steer through the NSR within 8 to 9 days, whereupon she will proceed to its port of destination in Thailand.

“The Taimyr continues operating in the NSR. The Rossiya, also an atomic icebreaker, is operating on the sea-shelf with the Academician Fedorov, while the Vaigach, after having piloted the Communards of Nikolaev, a refrigerator ship with marine products, is heading for Murmansk. This particular atomic-powered ship is going to be put in a dock, where it will undergo maintenance for three months, after which some fuel will be fed to its reactor. By late November, she will again hit the route,” he said.

By mid-August, the atomic icebreakers had already piloted three gas-condensate tankers (the Perseverance, the STI Heritage, and the Marilee) through the NSR. NOVATEK plans to dispatch at least two Panamax-class tankers (60,000 tons of cargo) in September and October of this year. In 2010, 71,000 tons of gas condensate was shipped via the NSR.

The maintenance and technological enterprise Atomflot (MTE Atomflot) was established in 1960. In 2008, its entire property was handed over to the Rosatom state corporation. Russia’s current atomic fleet comprises four two-reactor icebreakers (the Rossiya, the Sovetsky Soyuz, the Yamal, and the 50 Years of Victory), two single-reactor shallow-sitting icebreakers (the Taimyr and the Vaigach), an atomic lighter-container ship, the Sevmorput, as well as five maintenance and repair ships.

The world’s biggest liner atomic icebreaker, the 50 Years of Victory, is nearly 160 meters long, 30 meters wide, and has an 11-meter draft. The Yamal is 150 meters long and has the same draft and width.

Russia plans to build one 60 MW universal atomic icebreaker and three 25 MW liner diesel-powered icebreakers under the program Development of the Transportation System of Russia for 2010-2015.

The Northern Sea Route is the shortest route linking Northern Europe with the Asia Pacific Region. The etalon route from Rotterdam to Yokohama running via the Indian Ocean is 11,200,000 nautical miles long. The Northern Sea Route is 3.9 thousand nautical miles, or 34%, shorter. This shaves 20 to 33 days off the travel time, thereby reducing shipping costs. The potential freight traffic via the NSR is estimated at 50 million tons a year.