On the occasion of a ceremony in Saint Petersburg for the completion of the Yakutia, the fourth unit of the new nuclear icebreakers in the Rosatom fleet, its boss recalled that in November, transit traffic on the route maritime du nord (RMN or NSR in English, for Northern Sea Route), set “records” by exceeding “three million tonnes”. If the final figures have not yet been established, he said he could already affirm that in 2024 a “new record” has been established with a total volume of goods transported on the RMN “very close to 38 million tonnes.
In 2023, transit traffic on the northern sea route had reached 2.13 million tonnes thanks to trade with China. This was already a record according to Rosatom, which controls navigation on this passage between Europe and Asia, via the Arctic, and manages the infrastructure. Oil made up the majority with 1.5 million tonnes transported, followed by iron ore (350,000 tonnes). In total, 80 transits were carried out in 2023, compared to 47 in 2022. As for the overall traffic on this route, it reached 36.25 million tonnes in 2023, compared to 34 million tonnes in 2022 and 34.85 million tonnes in 2021 The year 2022 was marked by a marked slowdown in traffic growth due to the war in. Ukraine. This traffic, essentially “destination”, is supported by the Siberian raw materials extraction projects of Novatek, but also of Gazpromneft, Lukoil and Nornickel.
Although traffic gradually increases on the RMN, it remains well below the Kremlin’s objectives. Vladimir Putin himself had set a target of reaching 80 million tonnes of goods by 2024 and 160 million tonnes in 2035.
Yakutia
The Russian flag was raised over Yakutia
The ceremony attended by Alexei Likhachev was organized to raise the Russian flag on the new Yakutia icebreaker of project 22220 intended to escort convoys of ships in the Arctic. It took place in the presence of various political leaders, as well as the Baltic shipyards which built the ship, Rosatom, and the crew. “Our nuclear icebreaker fleet already has eight ships. By 2030, the group of icebreakers on the Northern Sea Route should reach 17 ships,” the head of Rosatom was further satisfied. The Russian icebreaker fleet currently numbers 34 diesel and eight nuclear-powered ships (Yakutia, Arktika, Sibir, Ural, Yamal, 50 Let Pobedy, Taymyr and Vaygach).
Construction of the Yakutia began in 2020 and it was launched in November 2022. On December 13, the Baltic shipyards announced that they had completed the sea trial phase in the Gulf of Finland. A sistership, the Chukotka was launched this year, its delivery is scheduled for 2026. Two other sisterships will be built and delivered in 2028 and 2030. They were initially to be called Kamchatka and Sakhalin, but they were renamed Stalingrad and Leningrad. References to the Soviet era wanted by the Kremlin.
Launch of Tchoukotchka
The bow of the Tchoukotchka
These ships are designed to sail for 40 years. They must support Russian ambitions on NMR. Armed by a crew of 53 sailors, they are the most powerful icebreakers in the world with 60 MW of propulsion, thanks to their two RITM-200 reactors. They can cross an ice thickness of 2.9 meters and navigate at speeds of 22 knots in open waters. These LK-60Yas have three shaft lines. They measure 173 meters long by 34 meters wide and have a displacement of 33,540 tonnes. They have the particularity of having a concept of double draft (10.5 meters or 8.65 meters) to access the mouth of polar rivers, such as that of the Yenisei or in the Gulf of Ob. The ballast tanks inside the hull can be easily adjusted to change the draft.
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