Maxim Kolenko, deputy head of the Northern Sea Route Directorate of Rosatom, said that this large state institution is considering the possibility of cooperation with China and Turkey in the construction of icebreakers.
He pointed out that Rosatom is studying the possibility of attracting the competencies of Chinese and Turkish shipyards to build icebreakers in Russia, including non-nuclear ones.
Kolenko stressed that nuclear-powered icebreakers have “proved success” in their work on the Northern Sea Route, so there is a “serious study” of the need to build additional icebreakers based on the possibility of transporting 150 million tons of cargo along the Northern Sea Route in 2023.
He pointed out that there are currently three main consumers of icebreaking services: Nornickel, Novatek and Rosneft, which are implementing huge investment projects on the coasts adjacent to the Northern Sea Route, and therefore see the need to build additional icebreakers.
Kolenko said the new icebreakers could be non-nuclear, but they should have the technical advantages of nuclear-powered icebreakers. Of course, these ships can be built at the Zvezda shipbuilding complex in Primorye, but the possibility of attracting the experience of foreign companies to carry out these works at Russian shipyards is also being considered.
According to him, some Turkish and Chinese companies working in the field of shipbuilding have such experience.
Source: News
