Russia: 22 Year Old Nuclear Icebreaker Returns to Service

The 22 year old icebreaker, which has been incapacitated at RTP Atomflot base in Murmansk for several years, will be ready for operating along the Northern Sea Route next summer for the purpose of assisting the booming Arctic sea transport, Barents Observer reported 

Due to greater traffic requirements along the Northern Sea Route, Rosatomflot, Russia’s operator of nuclear powered icebreakers fleet, wants the old vessel “Sovyetsky Soyuz” back in service.

“With the growing cargo flow in the Arctic, in 2012 we shall start using a nuclear icebreaker which has been in reserve until now,” says Head of Atomflot’s office in Moscow Stanislav Golovinsku to Itar-Tass.

Russia will now have six nuclear powered icebreakers operating in the Arctic.

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World Maritime News Staff, November 29, 2011