An icebreaker is a special-purpose ship or boat designed to move and navigate through ice-covered waters, and provide safe waterways for other boats and ships. Although the term usually refers to ice-breaking ships, it may also refer to smaller vessels, such as the icebreaking boats that were once used on the canals of the United Kingdom.
A nuclear-powered icebreaker is a nuclear-powered ship, purpose-built for use in waters covered with ice. While nuclear-powered icebreakers have been considered or planned by other countries, the only country that has built and operated them as of 2022 is Russia. Nuclear-powered icebreakers were constructed by the Soviet Union and later Russia primarily to aid shipping along the Northern Sea Route in the frozen Arctic waterways north of Siberia. Nuclear-powered icebreakers are much more powerful than their diesel-powered counterparts. Although nuclear propulsion is expensive to install and maintain, very heavy fuel demands, limitations on range, and difficulty refueling in the Arctic region can make diesel vessels less practical and less economical overall for these ice-breaking duties.
The name Sibir can refer to:
Yamal is a Russian Arktika-class nuclear-powered icebreaker operated by Atomflot. She is named after the Yamal Peninsula in Northwest Siberia; the name means End of the Land in Nenets.
The Arktika class is a Russian class of nuclear-powered icebreakers. Formerly known as Project 10520 nuclear-powered icebreaker, they were the world's largest and most powerful icebreakers until the 2016 launch of the first Project 22220 icebreaker, also named Arktika.
Arktika is a retired nuclear-powered icebreaker of the Soviet Arktika class. In service from 1975 to 2008, she was the first surface ship to reach the North Pole, a feat achieved on August 17, 1977, during an expedition dedicated to the 60th anniversary of the October Revolution.
The OJSC Baltic Shipyard is one of the oldest shipyards in Russia and is part of United Shipbuilding Corporation today.
Soviet naval reactors have been used to power both military and civilian vessels, including:
Taymyr is a shallow-draft nuclear-powered icebreaker, and the first of two similar vessels. She was built in 1989 for the Soviet Union in Finland, at the Helsinki Shipyard by Wärtsilä Marine, by order of the Murmansk Shipping Company. Her sister ship is Vaygach.
Vaygach is a shallow-draught nuclear-powered icebreaker. She was built in 1989 for the Soviet Union by Wärtsilä Marine Helsinki Shipyard in Finland by order of the Murmansk Shipping Company. Her sister ship is Taymyr.
Rossiya is a Russian Arktika-class nuclear-powered icebreaker. In 1990, it became the first ship to carry commercial passenger traffic to the geographic North Pole. Its sister ship Arktika was the first surface ship to reach the pole.
Sibir, built 1977, is a retired Russian nuclear-powered icebreaker of the Arktika class. She is the only icebreaker of her class that does not feature a red superstructure.
Three icebreaking ships have been named Sibir:
Project 22220, also known through the Russian type size series designation LK-60Ya, is a series of Russian nuclear-powered icebreakers. The lead ship of the class, Arktika, was delivered in 2020 and surpassed the preceding Soviet-built series of nuclear-powered icebreakers as the largest and most powerful icebreaker in the world.
Arktika is a Russian nuclear-powered icebreaker built by Baltic Shipyard in Saint Petersburg. It is the lead ship of Project 22220 icebreakers and superseded the preceding class of nuclear-powered icebreakers as the largest and most powerful icebreaker ever constructed.
Two ships have been named Arktika, Russian for the Arctic:
Sovetskiy Soyuz is the fourth Russian Arktika-class nuclear-powered icebreaker operated by FSUE Atomflot. The ship, which is named after the Soviet Union, was built by Baltic Shipyard in Leningrad and entered service in 1990. She was decommissioned in 2014.
Sibir is a Russian Project 22220 nuclear-powered icebreaker. Built by Baltic Shipyard in Saint Petersburg, she was laid down in 2015, launched in 2017, and delivered in December 2021.
Ural 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 November 2022.
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