Ural (icebreaker)

Ural (Russian: Урал) is a Russian Project 22220 nuclear-powered icebreaker currently under construction at Baltic Shipyard in Saint Petersburg. She was launched in 2019 and is scheduled to enter service in 2022.

For the nuclear-powered icebreaker originally named Ural, see 50 Let Pobedy.
Visualization of a Project 22220 icebreaker.
History
Russia
Name: Ural (Урал)
Namesake: Ural Mountains
Operator: FSUE Atomflot
Ordered: 13 March 2012[1]
Builder: Baltic Shipyard, Saint Petersburg
Cost: RUB 84.4 billion (for two vessels)[2]
Yard number: 05708[1]
Laid down: 25 July 2016[3]
Launched: 27 May 2019[4]
Sponsored by: Elvira Nabiullina[5]
Completed:
  • 2020 (contract)[6]
  • 2022 (current estimate)[7]
Identification: IMO number: 9658642[8]
Status: Launched
General characteristics [9][10]
Type: Icebreaker
Displacement:
  • 33,530 t (33,000 long tons) (dwl)
  • 25,540 t (25,140 long tons) (minimum)
Length:
  • 173.3 m (569 ft) (overall)
  • 160.0 m (525 ft) (dwl)
Beam:
  • 34 m (112 ft) (maximum)
  • 33 m (108 ft) (dwl)
Height: 51.25 m (168 ft)[11]
Draft:
  • 10.5 m (34 ft) (dwl)
  • 8.65 m (28 ft) (minimum; operational)
  • 8.50 m (28 ft) (minimum; design)
Depth: 15.2 m (50 ft)
Ice class: RMRS Icebreaker9
Installed power:
Propulsion:
  • Nuclear-turbo-electric
  • Three shafts (3 × 20 MW)
Speed:
  • 22 knots (41 km/h; 25 mph)
  • 1.5–2 knots (2.8–3.7 km/h; 1.7–2.3 mph) in 2.8 m (9 ft) ice
Endurance:
  • 7 years (reactor fuel)
  • 6 months (provisions)[12]
Crew: 75
Aviation facilities: Helideck and hangar

Development and construction

Background
Main article: Project 22220 icebreaker § Development

In the late 1980s,[13] the Russian research institutes and design bureaus developed a successor for the 1970s Arktika-class nuclear-powered icebreakers as part of a wider icebreaker fleet renewal program initiated shortly after the dissolution of the Soviet Union.[14] The new 60-megawatt icebreaker, referred to using a type size series designation LK-60Ya,[note 1] would feature a so-called dual-draft functionality which would allow the vessel to operate in shallow coastal areas after de-ballasting.[15] Although the preliminary designs had been developed more almost two decades earlier, the LK-60Ya design was finalized in 2009 as Project 22220 by Central Design Bureau "Iceberg"[16] and the construction of the first vessel was awarded to Saint Petersburg-based Baltic Shipyard in August 2012.[17] Two additional contracts in May 2014 and August 2019 have increased the number of Project 22220 icebreakers under construction or on order to five.[18][19]

Construction
Ural under construction at Baltic Shipyard in July 2019 with another Project 22220 icebreaker in the background.

The tender for construction of two additional Project 22220 nuclear-powered icebreakers, referred to as the first and second serial vessels of the project, was announced at the keel laying ceremony of the lead ship Arktika on 5 November 2013.[6] On 8 May 2014, the 84.4 billion ruble (about US$2.4 billion)[2] contract for two vessels was awarded to the Saint Petersburg -based Baltic Shipyard which was the only company whose bid had been accepted.[20]

The keel of the third Project 22220 icebreaker was laid on 25 July 2016, shortly after the partially-assembled hull of the previous vessel, Sibir, had been moved down the slipway for final hull assembly.[3][21] Unlike in the previous two vessels, the RITM-200 nuclear reactors were lifted onboard the vessel while it was still on the slipway.[22] By February 2019, the hull of the new icebreaker had been constructed up to the 40 millimetres (1.6 in) thick ice belt level,[23] and the vessel was launched as Ural on 27 May 2019.[4] The name had previously been selected for the final Arktika-class icebreaker when it was laid down in 1989, but during construction the vessel was renamed 50 Let Pobedy (Russian: 50 лет Победы, lit. '50 Years of Victory').[24]

Initially, the delivery of the third Project 22220 nuclear-powered icebreaker was scheduled for 2020,[6] but this has since been postponed to 2022 due to problems with the delivery of the steam turbines from a domestic manufacturer.[7]

On 26 May 2020, Ural's level of technical readiness was reported to be 50 %.[25]

Design
Main article: Project 22220 icebreaker § Design

Ural is 173.3 metres (569 ft) long overall and has a maximum beam of 34 metres (112 ft). Designed to operate efficiently both in shallow Arctic river estuaries as well as along the Northern Sea Route, the draught of the vessel can be varied between 8.65 and 10.5 metres (28 and 34 ft) by taking in and discharging ballast water, corresponding to a displacement between 25,540 and 33,530 tonnes (25,140 and 33,000 long tons).[9][10]

Ural has a nuclear-turbo-electric powertrain. The onboard nuclear power plant consists of two 175 MWt RITM-200 pressurized water reactors and two 36 MWe turbogenerators.[26][27][28] The propulsion system follows the classic polar icebreaker pattern with three 6.2-metre (20 ft) four-bladed propellers driven by 20-megawatt (27,000 hp) electric motors.[29][30] With a total propulsion power of 60 megawatts (80,000 hp), Ural is designed to be capable of breaking 2.8 metres (9 ft) thick level ice at a continuous speed of 1.5–2 knots (2.8–3.7 km/h; 1.7–2.3 mph) at full power when operating in deep water at design draught.[10]

Notes
  1. The type size series designation "LK-60Ya" (Russian: ЛК-60Я) comes from the Russian language word for "icebreaker" (Russian: ледокол, romanized: ledokol), propulsion power (60 megawatts), and the first letter of the Russian word for "nuclear" (Russian: ядерное, romanized: yadernoye).
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References
  1. "Ural (9658642)". Sea-web. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
  2. "Baltic Shipyard building nuclear icebreaker". VEUS e.V. 24 September 2014. Retrieved 25 December 2019.
  3. "Second serial icebreaker of project 22220, the Ural, laid down at Baltiysky Zavod (photo)". PortNews. 25 July 2016. Retrieved 25 December 2019.
  4. "Nuclear-powered icebreaker Ural, Project 22220, launched at Baltiysky Zavod shipyard in Saint-Petersburg (video)". PortNews. 27 May 2019. Retrieved 25 December 2019.
  5. @rosatom (20 May 2019). ""Крестной матерью" ледокола нового поколения "Урал" станет глава Центробанка Эльвира Набиуллина. Спуск корабля на воду состоится 25 мая" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  6. "Atomflot announces tender for construction of two serial nuclear icebreakers". PortNews. 5 November 2013. Retrieved 25 December 2019.
  7. "Russia's Rosatomflot Launches Third New Nuclear Icebreaker". High North News. 28 May 2019. Retrieved 25 December 2019.
  8. "Ural (9658642)". Equasis. French Ministry for Transport. Retrieved 25 December 2019.
  9. "Универсальный атомный ледокол проекта 22220" (in Russian). Rosatomflot. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  10. "Multipurpose nuclear icebreaker project 22220". United Shipbuilding Corporation. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  11. "Как ледокол "Арктика" готовился к ходовым испытаниям" (in Russian). Sudostroenie.info. 15 December 2019. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  12. "Ледокол «Арктика» готов на 60%" (in Russian). Ruselprom. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  13. Tsoy, L.G. (2012), "Не разучились ли наши судостроители проектировать ледоколы?", Морской флот (in Russian) (5)
  14. Tsoy, L.G.; Stoyanov, I.A.; Mikhailichenko, V.V.; Livshits, S.G. (1995), "Perspective types of Arctic icebreakers and their principal characteristics" (PDF), Proceedings of the 13th International Conference on Port and Ocean Engineering under Arctic Conditions, 1995 (POAC'95), 1, pp. 13–26
  15. Tsoy, L.G. (1994), "New generation Arktika class nuclear icebreaker feasibility study", Proceedings of the Fifth International Conference on Ships and Marine Structures in Cold Regions, 1994 (ICETECH'95), pp. P1–P8
  16. "Largest icebreaker construction now underway". The Motorship. 26 January 2014. Retrieved 24 December 2019.
  17. "Baltic Shipyard to build new large nuclear-powered icebreaker (Project 22220 LC-60YA)". Navy Recognition. 7 August 2012. Retrieved 24 December 2019.
  18. "Baltiysky Shipyard to build three new icebreakers by 2020". Barents Observer. 8 May 2014. Retrieved 24 December 2019.
  19. "Russia's ATOMFLOT Orders 4th & 5th Project 22220 Nuclear-Powered Icebreakers". Naval News. 11 August 2019. Retrieved 24 December 2019.
  20. "Baltiysky Shipyard awarded no-bid contract for construction of two nuclear icebreakers of project 22220". PortNews. 8 May 2014. Retrieved 25 December 2019.
  21. "Hull of the Siberia, first serial icebreaker of project 22220, shifted to a new position at Baltiysky Zavod shipyard". PortNews. 28 June 2016. Retrieved 25 December 2019.
  22. "Baltiysky Zavod shipyard loaded reactors onto nuclear-powered icebreaker Ural, second serial ship of Project 22220". PortNews. 12 November 2018. Retrieved 25 December 2019.
  23. "Baltiysky Zavod completed shaping ice belt of nuclear-powered icebreaker Ural of Project 22220". 20 February 2019. Retrieved 25 December 2019.
  24. Savelyev, Igor. "Nuclear giant goes out to the Northern Sea route". Maritime Market. Retrieved 20 May 2019.
  25. "Техготовность атомоходов «Сибирь» и «Урал» составляет 70% и 50% соответственно" (in Russian). PortNews. 26 May 2020. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  26. "Serving the nuclear machine building industry since 1945" (PDF). JSC "Afrikantov OKBM". Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  27. "Kirovsky Zavod Will Manufacture a Steam-Turbine Plant for the World's Largest Nuclear-Powered Ice-Breaker". Kirovsky Zavod. 27 August 2013. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  28. "Турбогенератор РУСЭЛПРОМА установили на атомный ледокол" (in Russian). Ruselprom. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  29. "Электродвигатели «Русэлпрома» погружены на ледокол «Сибирь»" (in Russian). Ruselprom. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  30. ""Звездочка" изготовила лопасти гребных винтов для головного атомного ледокола" (in Russian). 20 April 2016. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
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