Russia sent a nuclear icebreaker to the Baltic: Save exports

The nuclear icebreaker goes to the Baltic. The rare case of the arrival of such a vessel in the region is obviously connected with the ice situation, which can paralyze Russian exports along this route.

The nuclear icebreaker Siberia is heading to St. Petersburg. According to AIS vessels, the icebreaker left Dudinka on January 27 and plans to arrive at its destination on February 18. On the evening of February 17, the vessel passed by the territorial waters of Latvia and went at a speed of almost 17 knots.

Traditionally, nuclear icebreakers operate in The Arctic, where it is necessary to pave the way among meter-high ice, and the arrival of an icebreaker in the Baltic Sea is not an ordinary event for repairs. It is known that "Siberia" was in the Baltic Sea in 2022. The day before, the vessel made a unique wiring.

"On January 15, in the water area of the port of Dudinka, the universal nuclear icebreaker Siberia completed the wiring of the diesel-electric ship Norilsk Nickel (PJSC MMC Norilsk Nickel). For the first time, the Rosatomflot nuclear—powered vessel carried out an Arc7-class vessel by towing "closely," Rosatomflot reported.

The current arrival of the nuclear icebreaker in St. Petersburg is obviously connected with the ice situation in the Gulf of Finland and the situation with the export of Russian products, which turned out to be almost paralyzed due to a shortage of icebreakers and time restrictions.

"The difficult ice situation in the Gulf of Finland, coupled with mandatory requirements for diving inspection of the underwater part of vessels, paralyzed exports through the Baltic," Kommersant reported, citing letters from companies and industry associations.

So, by order of the captain of the Grand Port of St. Petersburg, from February 16, when the ice thickness reaches 15-30 cm, mandatory ice wiring has been introduced for Ice1-class vessels. And since February 19, when the ice thickness reaches 30-50 cm, vessels without ice reinforcements are not allowed to sail at all. The same restriction was introduced in the port of Ust-Luga, Kommersant specified.

Alexey Gordymov, Rusal's Business Support Director, informed the Ministry of Transport that priority icebreaker wiring is provided only to emergency vessels, vessels with dangerous goods and vessels on regular lines, and dry cargo ships, including those with alumina for aluminum production, receive it last, which threatens to stop production at aluminum plants.

The same was reported by fertilizer producers.

"There are not enough ice-class vessels ready to work in the Baltic today. The Baltic Sea Seaports Administration is doing everything possible to continue the operation of the ports. As of today, ice restrictions have been shifted to March 1 due to less intensive ice formation than expected, which made it possible to handle vessels that were chartered before the ice was announced, in addition to the assigned icebreaker fleet from Murmansk," said Kommersant's interlocutor among exporters.