On May 21, Atomflot’s nuclear icebreaker Vaigach completed a set of flood control actions on the Yenisei River and escorted the last motor ship Turukhan from the port of Dudinka. The crew ensured that old ice channels are destructed, anti-jam cuts made and additional ice channels laid in some river sections to prevent ice jams and damage to the Dudinka port infrastructure.
“The crew of the Vaigach nuclear-powered icebreaker successfully fulfilled the assigned tasks,” noted Andrey Tenitsky, Advisor to the Director General at Atomflot FSUE. “The team had to make cuts in the ice near the Leontievsky – Nikitinsky islands, lay additional ice channels across the watercourse of the Sukhaya Dudinka River and from the port of Dudinka upstream of the Yenisei River around the Sitkovsky Islands. The experience and skill of the crew as well as real-time recommendations of the Maritime Operations Headquarters of the NSR General Administration FSBI provided the basis for effective work.”
From May 20 to 21, anti-jamming operations with the involvement of the nuclear icebreaker were carried out at the request of the administration of the Taimyr Dolgano-Nenets municipal district of the Krasnoyarsk Territory. Nuclear-powered ships of the Taimyr type have a long track record of practicing the anti-jamming technique. Once the port of Dudinka is closed, all ships leave the river. When water reaches 7.5–8 meter level, the nuclear icebreaker lays additional channels and makes cuts with the break of the snow-ice road. Such measures make it possible to prevent ice jams and water rising above dangerous levels.
The integrated development of the Russian Arctic is a national strategic priority. To increase the intensity of traffic along the Northern Sea Route (NSR) is of paramount importance for the fulfillment of the transportation and cargo shipping tasks. This logistics corridor development is possible due to regular cargo shipping, construction of new nuclear icebreakers and modernization of the relevant infrastructure (including the rescue one). Rosatom is actively involved in this work.
In 2018, Rosatom was appointed the operator of the Northern Sea Route infrastructure responsible for the NSR navigation, construction of infrastructure facilities, navigation and hydrographic support and navigation safety system in harsh Arctic environment.