The super-powerful icebreaker on the 1st of January arrived in the remote Russian town together with cargo vessels Inzhener Trubin and Yuri Arshenevsky. Also diesel-engined icebreaker Kapitan Dranitsyn was part of the convoy.
It is the first time that the brand new Arktika sails across the eastern part of the Northern Sea Route. But it has not been an easy voyage for the potent vessel.
When the icebreaker two weeks ago sailed through the Vilkitsky Strait and into the Laptev Sea, there were three cargo ships in its wake. When it arrived in Pevek, only two were left.
The Polar King was abandoned en route, and is now drifting in an area north of the New Siberian Islands, shipping data show.
According to Rosatomflot, the icebreaker management company, the Arktika is now on its way towards the Polar King and will subsequently escort it to Pevek.
The three cargo vessels all carry construction goods for the major Baimskaya copper mining project in the Chukotka Peninsula. The ships were originally to arrive in Pevek already in November, but an early freeze in the far northern waters prevented them from reaching their destination. For several days, the carriers lied idle east of the Vilkitsky Strait waiting for icebreaker assistance. That never came and the ships ultimately had to return to Arkhangelsk.....
....MUCH MORE
....The sophisticated vessels are designed to fill a current, definitive need for the Coast Guard statutory mission, of polar icebreaking, and meet other mission needs in the higher latitudes vital to the economic vitality, scientific inquiry, and national interests of the United States. These vessels are 460 feet in length with a beam of 88 feet overall, a full load displacement of approximately 22,900 long tons. The propulsion will be diesel-electric at over 45,200 horsepower and readily capable of continuously breaking ice between six to eight feet thick. The vessel will accommodate 186 personnel for an extended endurance of 90 days.....
Length: 686 feet
Power: four shafts at 30 MW each.
