On December 24th, the acceptance and delivery signing ceremony for the first mass-produced 22220 nuclear powered icebreaker, the 'Siberia', was held in St. Petersburg, according to the Russian Atomic Energy Group

Completed delivery of the icebreaker 'Siberia'

The Russian Atomic Energy Group revealed that after the handover work is completed, the "Siberia" will leave St. Petersburg and head to its home port of Murmansk. It is reported that the nuclear powered icebreaker "Siberia" laid its keel on May 26, 2015 and was launched on September 22, 2017. It is currently the largest and most powerful icebreaker in the world. We will safeguard Russia's leading position in the Arctic. The 22220 nuclear powered icebreaker has a length of 173.3 meters, a width of 34 meters, a displacement of 33500 tons, and a maximum icebreaking thickness of 3 meters. It can open up a path for fleet navigation in the Arctic, ensuring that hydrocarbon raw materials from the Yamal Peninsula, Jidan Peninsula, and Kara Sea continental shelf enter the markets of countries in the Asia Pacific region by sea.

The first 22220 type nuclear powered icebreaker, the Arctic, was handed over to the Russian Atomic Energy Group in October 2020. The ship was also built at a Baltic shipyard.

It is worth noting that while Russia's 30000 ton nuclear powered icebreakers continue to serve, the United States, which is also focused on competing for the Arctic, continues to lament. In a speech at the annual security forum held by the Aspen Institute in early November, US Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas acknowledged that the US lags far behind Russia and China in terms of the size of its icebreaker fleet.

Mayorkas said, "The United States is not paying enough attention to its strategy in the Arctic, nor is it paying enough attention to the increasingly important world region. We and our icebreaker fleet are far behind, which is sad

He admitted in his speech, "Forgive me for being blunt, the United States has two old icebreakers that are outdated, while Russia and China have dozens of ships of this type. In terms of Arctic capabilities, we have been far surpassed in terms of resources." According to relevant statistics, Russia has at least 46 icebreakers of various types, including multiple powerful nuclear icebreakers.

In contrast, the more knowledgeable Commander of the US Coast Guard, Carl Schultz, is more pessimistic. He stated that there are not two large icebreakers that the United States can handle, but only one, the Polar Star icebreaker, which has been in use for 45 years. Considering that building large icebreakers with higher safety levels will take approximately 10 years, we are still continuing to discuss

Even worse, even if the retirement time of the Polar Star is further delayed, it can only serve until 2035, while the construction plan for the new icebreaker in the United States is constantly delayed. According to the website of the American Naval Academy, the earliest service time for the new icebreaker will not be earlier than 2035, which means that there may be a scenario where there are no icebreakers available in the United States in the future.

Source: Military of Strong Countries