“Ob” was launched to water. The icebreaker will conduct support of ships to Sabetta

Vyborg shipyard launched the port icebreaker “Ob” to water. It is being built by the order of Atomflot of the state corporation Rosatom within the project “Portoflot”. The icebreaker “Ob” will become the first non-nuclear icebreaker of Atomflot.

In spite of absence of a nuclear power unit, the port icebreaker has sufficient capacity and exceptional maneuverability that will allow it to perform full amount of work in the Gulf of Ob. The vessel is equipped with an innovative propulsion system. This information was given by Mustafa Kashka, the first deputy director general – the chief engineer of Atomflot. Atomflot is the ship owner and operator of the port icebreaker “Ob”. In November of 2014 the company signed the agreement for rendering of a range of port fleet services to ensure icebreaker support of ships and servicing of water area of the port of Sabetta for the project “Yamal LNG” for the period till the 31st of December, 2040. This information was given in the press-service of Atomflot. The port icebreaker “Ob” was laid on the slipway of Vyborg shipyard on the 27th of September, 2016. The ship of the project “Aker ARC 124” (ice class Icebreaker7) will have the capacity 12 megawatt. It will allow the ship to operate effectively in the ice with the thickness 1.5 meters at the speed 2 knots and to reach speed 4 knots in broken ice with the thickness up to 5 meters. The length of the vessel is 89.2 meters, the width - 21.9 meters, the draft - 7.5 meters. As it is stated in the project, the propulsion system consists of three main generator units with medium-speed engines and a separate harbor generator. Four independently operating azimuth thruster propulsion units 3000 kilowatt each create 115 tonnes of bollard pull. Steerable thrusters, which are located in pairs on the stern and the bow of the ship, allow the icebreaker to maneuver effectively in any direction.