Project 10081 Sevmorput

The Northern sea route and historic North-East passage is the main shipping artery of Russia in the Arctic. It passes through the seas of the Arctic Ocean, connecting European and far eastern ports. Distance from the Karskih gate to Providence Bay-5600 km or 3023.76 miles. Northern sea route serves the Arctic ports and major rivers. There are ports of Igarka, Tiksi, Dikson, Dudinka, Pevek, etc. (Duration of navigation - 2-4 months at selected sites, maybe longer, using icebreakers.) Northern sea route is the shortest sea lines of communication between the European part of Russia and the far East, which, compared to the South passing through the Suez Canal route. If polar ice continues to melt at the same rate, the North-West Passage will become open for navigation. It is the shortest route from Europe to Asia and is also rich in hydrocarbons.

The ice-breaker Alexander Sibiryakov made a legendary journey along Russia's Northern Sea Route, which connects the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. This was the first to get from Arkhangelsk, on the White Sea in European Russia, to Yokohama, Japan in one go. This was the start of the active exploration of the Arctic. Otto Schmidt led one of the first and many of the subsequent Arctic expeditions. In 1929-1930 he went to Franz Joseph Land and Severnaya Zemlya (Northern Land). Later, the Alexander Sibiryakov barely made it to the Bering Strait.

'Sevmorput' [Sev mor put = Northern Sea Route] was built in Kerch in 1988. 'Sevmorput' is one of the largest Russian carriers: length - 260 m, breadth - 32 m, power - 40,000 hp. The nuclear lighter carrier 'Sevmorput' is the world's only LASH [lighter aboard ship] carrier supplied with nuclear facility. Sevmorput has the capacity to handle up to 1 m thick ice. The vessel has the capacity to go into a continuous smooth ice fields up to 1 meter thick at a speed of about two knots. The hull is divided into 11 transverse watertight bulkheads into 12 compartments, of which 6 cargo holds.

Experience in operating icebreaker showed the advantages of using nuclear power in Arctic conditions, so it was decided to equip a new nuclear-powered LASH transport-container ship lighter aboard ship, intended for the carriage of national economic goods to the North. Cargo transportation has become more steady and effective after reinforced ice class cargo ships and powerful diesel-electric icebreakers of different types and nuclear icebreakers of three generations and the nuclear lash lighter - container carrier "Sevmorput" have been built. The nuclear icebreaker "Arktika" is the first surface ship that reached the North Pole in 1977. Other unique activities of the company are year-round navigation in western regions of Russian Arctic (since 1978) and outstanding rescue operations performed by the carriers in eastern Arctic region in 1983 and 1994. Moreover, there are regular international tours aboard nuclear icebreakers to the North Pole (since 1993).

For centuries it was possible to get to Murmansk coast only by sea. After the Kola Peninsula has become a large industrial area it was necessary to have its own cargo fleet, registered in Murmansk. Murmansk State Sea Dry-cargo and Passenger Shipping Company, founded in 1939 (since 1967 - Murmansk Shipping Company), was specialized in arctic transportation. Basically, it consisted of bulk and passenger cargo carriers, that have been transferred from Northern and Baltic Shipping Companies.

The Yenissei, one of the greatest Russian rivers, is 100 kilometers to the West from Norilsk. One could not imagine a better transport highway. But there is a problem: the Yenisei is separated from Norilsk by over one hundred kilometers of tundra, which is impassable in summer time. During long winters it is possible to deliver cargoes by snow roads. The development of Norilsk industrial region depends on the quality of commuting routes. It was necessary to build a railway from Dudinka to Norilsk. Active development of Norilsk Industrial Region and the need for year-round guaranteed shipments required the setting up of the icebreakers transport system. For this purpose the Company organized designing and building of special transport vessels. The new stage in transport began with commissioning of the atomic LASH lighter carrier Sevmorput.

Atomic LASH ship-container ship "Sevmorput", the only Russian LASH -transport ship with nuclear-power, was built by the Kerch shipbuilding plant "Zaliv". B.e. 1a Butoma St from 01 June 1982 to 31 December 1988, when the "Icebreaker" Sevmorput was commissioned. Project ship developed by joint decision No.c-13/01360 of 30 May 1978 of Minmorflota and Minsudproma in accordance with the specification for its development. The hull was designed and built with ice reinforcements in accordance with the requirements of regulation Register USSR ed. 1981.

The Vessel was designed, built and operated by the domestic and international rules, conventions and norms, including:

• IMO code of safety for nuclear merchant ships;
• International Convention on the safety of merchant ships to nuclear fuel;
• Radiation safety standards;
• Regulation of nuclear safety;
• Basic sanitary rules.

The Sevmorput was denied entry at four ports in the Soviet Far East because of public protests. Authorities in Vladivostok, Nakhodka and Magadan had refused to accept the ship. "A huge wave of public indignation has been set in motion by the lack of information, by (uncertainty about) the safety of the ship itself, by an invisible shadow of the Chernobyl tragedy and by the complex ecological situation in the Soviet Far East," the Soviet Russia newspaper reported in March 1989. "There is a general anti-nuclear mood, a kind of radiation phobia," Ilya Baranikas, an editor with Novosti, said of the background of the multiplying protests against the Sevmorput. "Sooner or later, this protest (against an atomic-powered ship) was expected." The Maritime Ministry newspaper Vodny Transport had reported only last week that a four-minute emergency aboard an atomic-powered Soviet icebreaker, the Rossiya, in the Arctic port of Murmansk had brought the ship close to a nuclear "meltdown" until automatic safety devices plus fast action by the crew averted disaster. The Soviet Union's first nuclear-powered cargo ship finally docked at Vladivostok on 13 March 1989, after it was stranded at sea for a week because port workers were afraid to handle it.

The Soviet government applied for permission to have the ship Sevmorput make several stops in Vancouver starting in mid-March 1990 but was told Vancouver did not have adequate evacuation and emergency response measures in case of an accident involving its nuclear reactor. According to initial plans (the Soviet Union) and lighter aboard ship to be used in international transport in the late 1980s and early 1990s was done several voyages on the route to Viet Nam. In recent years, lighter aboard ship is only used on the Dudinka-Murmansk-Murmansk. Since the start of operations, "Sevmorput" passed 302,000 miles, transported more than 1.5 million tons of goods through during this time, with only one nuclear reactor reloading. For comparison, the SA-15 vessels operating on the Dudinskoj line would run almost 100 trips to put the same amount of goods, having spent almost 100,000 tons of fuel.

The vessel is intended for the carriage of LASH lighters type in holds, in specially equipped cells and on the upper deck with loading and unloading of the ship's crane lihternym; international standard ISO containers in holds and on deck without a special refit vessel loading-unloading containers must be carried out shore-based facilities. Limited quantities can be loaded and unloaded the container crane with lihternogo. The ship may take aboard up to 74 300 tonnes lighter or 1328 20-foot container. The strength of the hatch allows transportation of loaded lighters weighing 450 tons each, the two tiers in height, or 20 and 40 ft containers of international standard in three tiers in height with a maximum permissible mass of each container, 20.3 and 30.5 tons respectively.

In early 2007 Rostekhnadzor checked the nuclear installation, stating that "nuclear and radiation safety is ensured and meets the requirements." In August 2007, "Murmansk shipping company", the operator of the vessel, announced the intention to renovate the lighter aboard ship into a floating drilling vessel. The renovations were to take 18 months. Planned alterations were due to lack of demand by h cargo operators for lighters. Arctic exploration results needed to be buttressed by in-depth drilling but Russia did not have the equipment for it. The Murmansk Marine Shipping Company offered to re-equip its nuclear-powered barge carrying the Sevmorput ship for this purpose but this required time and money.

With the transformation, the world would see the first ever nuclear-powered oil and gas service vessel. The place of work for the vessel is likely to be the Arctic, and first of all the Barents Sea. General Director of Murmansk Shipping Company (MSCO), Aleksandr Medvedev, says the transformation of the ship will be made at an unprecedented speed of 18 months. All construction works will be conducted at the "Zvezdochka" plant in Severodvinsk (Arkhangelsk Oblast), B-port.com reported. Mr. Medvedev said the transformation of the "Sevmorput" is part of his company's gradually stronger focus on the oil and gas industry. The Murmansk Shipping Company has for several years cooperated with oil major Lukoil about the development of terminal facilities in Varandey on the Barents Sea coast. The reconstruction of "Sevmorput" will put the MSCO in the position to become a substantial player in Arctic oil and gas industry.

However, in February 2008 this was followed by a statement revoking the renovation project and announcing the forthcoming transfer of ownership of all vessels with nuclear power plant to another operator. In August 2008, the Murmansk shipping company completed the handover of all atomic icebreaker fleet, including Sevmorput, to FSUE Atomflot.

In 2001 took place the refueling of the nuclear reactor, and since then, the ship regularly worked on the Dudinskoj line. The first project was to install a physical protection system in the nuclear-powered ship the Sevmorput, in 2001. In October 2009 the General Director of FGUP Atomflot Vyacheslav Ruksa said that "Sevmorput" is part of Atomflota, and could last another 15 years.

Since 2007, the nuclear lighter-container ship "Sevmorput" was unclaimed in the water area of ??the Northern Sea Route. In December 2013, the general director of Rosatom State Nuclear Energy Corporation Sergey Kirienko decided to restore the ship. In December 2015, Sevmorput successfully passed the sea trials. After commissioning, the vessel faces tasks, including commercial ones. There are orders also through the Ministry of Defense - to ensure the deployment of military factions in the Arctic, the restoration of the infrastructure of airfields and ports of the Novosibirsk Islands, Franz Josef Land and other regions of the Far North.

June 9, 2016, the nuclear lighter-container ship Sevmorput returned from the first flight in the last ten years. On May 6, a unique transport ship with a nuclear power plant left the port of Murmansk in the direction of Kotelny Island. In the Temp Bay was discharged on fast ice 5,8 thousand tons of cargo. The circular flight was determined in 40 days. The crew of the nuclear lighter ship Sevmorput demonstrated its readiness to work on schedule, which is important for potential customers.

Length, OA	260.1 meters /
Length between perpendiculars	m 228.8
Width	m 32.2
Depth a	m 18.3
Draft to summer load mark	m 11.8
draft, navigation in ice)	m 10.65
Displacement	t 61880
Deadweight with draft to summer load mark	t 33980
Size of cargo hatches in lighting:	m 20,6 length, 19,05 width, m
Speed , with a power-STP 29420 kW	20.8 knots
Power plant	Chief turbozubcatogo unit power 29420 kW and speed of rotation of the propeller shaft rpm, 115 runs on propeller propeller. Atomic paroproizvodâsej installation performance 215 tons of steam per hour, at a pressure of 40 and a temperature of 290oS.
Auxiliary equipment:	3 turbogenerators of 1700 kW 2 standby diesel generators to 600 kW 2 emergency diesel generators, 200 kW. Boiler steam capacity emergency of 50 tons per hour under a pressure of 25 kg/cm2 running on diesel fuel.
Cranes	Crane "HORSE": Cargo capacity, t 500 Lowering speed, m/min, 0.5 Crane travel speed m/min, 0.3 Lifting height: 27 m full, 12 m from the rail head, Track podkranovogo track, mm 21336