Spotted: SCF’s New Ship Transits Northern Sea Route Alone

Sovcomflot’s new multifunctional icebreaking standby vessel Fedor Ushakov completed its first eastward passage along the Northern Sea Route (NSR) on November 24.

Built to service the Sakhalin-2 project, the 3,824 dwt vessel is bound for its permanent operational base on the Sakhalin Island (the Sea of Okhotsk) shelf.

The vessel covered a high-latitude route without the assistance of an icebreaker, despite the late stage of the Arctic Ocean navigation season and challenging ice conditions along several route segments.

During this passage, Fedor Ushakov covered 2,194 nautical miles from Cape Zhelaniya (the Novaya Zemlya Archipelago) to Cape Dezhnev at Chukotka, the easternmost point of Russia’s mainland, over a period of 8 days.

“The transit voyage along the NSR proceeded in a regular mode along the entire route. Our vessel demonstrated its superior technical specifications: two Azipod units with a total capacity of 13 MW and an icebreaking hull form provided Fedor Ushakov with great icebreaking capacity and manoeuvrability,” Alexander Kutlubaev, Captain of Fedor Ushakov, said.

At a length of almost 100 meters, Fedor Ushakov is the third vessel in a series of four multifunctional ice-breaking supply and standby vessels, built under a long-term agreement between Sovcomflot and Sakhalin Energy.

The supply vessel Gennadiy Nevelskoy became part of the SCF fleet in the spring of 2017, followed by the standby vessel Stepan Makarov in the summer of 2017.

Image Courtesy: Sovcomflot