The sailors of the Soviet Arctic fleet have been waiting for the appearance of powerful icebreakers for a very long time. Their absence limited the time of work and transportation only in the summer. The icebreaker "Moscow" allowed to increase this time until November, thereby expanding the timing of Arctic navigation. The ship allowed not to wait for more mercy from the weather. What was the 1960 icebreaker? What is his modern counterpart? What is the purpose of the icebreaker in modern times? All this can be learned from the article.
History of creation
The Moscow icebreaker was launched for the first time in 1960. It was built on the territory of Finland (shipyard "Vyartsilya"). The customer was the Soviet Union. In other years, ships of the same type were launched, which they called Leningrad, Kiev, Murmansk, Vladivostok.
They were created as the most powerful diesel-electric icebreakers, although during operation they still showed some drawbacks. For example, broken propellers.
1960 construction
The icebreaker "Moscow" included the following devices:
- three screws;
- three continuous decks;
- elongated tank;
- ten watertight compartments separated by transverse bulkheads;
- double bottom with ballast and fresh water, fuel, lubricating oil;
- special premises intended for storage of provisions;
- landing pad for a helicopter.
The hull is made of welded Siemens open-hearth steel, the steering wheel is made of cast steel. Residential premises are designed for 126 people, 26 additional spare places have been added to this. They carried out water heating. In non-residential premises heating is steam and electric. In addition, ventilation was carried out in all types of premises.
Ship Feature:
- length - 122 meters 10 centimeters;
- width - 24 meters 50 centimeters;
- height (on the main deck) - 115 meters;
- draft (maximum) - 10 meters 50 centimeters;
- speed (clear water) - 19.3 knots.
The Moscow icebreaker of 1960 has an engine in the form of eight diesel engines. They drive the generators that feed the three propeller motors.
Destination
The icebreaker "Moscow", like its counterparts, regularly participates in Arctic navigation in the summer. All of them work on the Northern Sea Route. In winter, they conduct year-round navigation in the port area of ​​Leningrad and Nagaevo, that is, they are operated almost all year.
In 1961, the crew was ordered to go on an unusual voyage. The task was to go along the Northern Sea Route in the west-east direction in the second half of October. This was to reveal the navigational possibilities of swimming in the fall.
The icebreaker made its voyage from October 18 to October 28, 1961. All the way along the highway took ten days. The success of the voyage showed how the possibilities of navigation in the Arctic waters have expanded. This meant that by the end of October, a transit vessel, and not just one icebreaker, could pass along the highway.
Project 21900
The new Moscow icebreaker, the photo of which is presented below, was built by order of Rosmorport. At the end of 2004, production was entrusted to the Baltic Shipyard for two vessels under the general project 21900. The main in this series was the icebreaker "Moscow" 21900, and the second - the icebreaker "St. Petersburg". The total amount of the contract came out to five billion rubles.
Icebreaker Timeline:
- 2004 - the victory of the Baltic Shipyard in the competition for the production of project 21900.
- 2005 - the beginning of work on the creation of the main ship.
- 2006 - sea trials conducted in the Gulf of Finland.
- 2008 - transfer of the vessel to the Rosmorport customer and the solemn raising of the flag of the Russian Federation.
- 2014 - participation in the festival of icebreakers in St. Petersburg.
The main icebreaker of project 21900 is a two-deck vessel with two propeller-driven columns. The hull was designed for an ice thickness of more than one meter.
Ship Feature:
- capacity (gross) - 9491 tons;
- length - 114 meters;
- width - 28 meters 2 centimeters;
- height (on board) - 12 meters 40 centimeters;
- draft - 8 meters 50 centimeters;
- speed (clear water) - 10 knots;
- crew capacity - 26 people.
As in the 1960 type, a helicopter landing pad was created on board.
Purpose of the project 21900
The creation of an icebreaker was required for navigation in arctic waters. However, modern capabilities suggest other additional abilities for ships of this type.
The main purpose:
- wiring of large tankers (width up to 50 meters);
- towing ships in ice and on water;
- transportation of goods;
- emergency rescue operations;
- combating oil and chemical spills at sea;
- extinguishing fires.
In order for the icebreaker to be recouped as soon as possible, it was created in such a way that it could be used in the summer. The icebreaker is capable of servicing oil and gas fields and coastal terminals. This proves its increased effectiveness.
An interesting fact: over the past more than 30 years, this is the first diesel-electric icebreaker manufactured at a Russian enterprise. Prior to this, the state ordered similar vessels abroad.