Rosatom in co-operation with Russia’s Ministry of Transporthas decided to strengthen the group of icebreakers in the Gulf of Finland with a nuclear-powered icebreaker Sibir (Siberia) “to prevent possible difficulties with the export of Russian export cargo”.
The decision was announced at a meeting at the Situation Centre of the Admiral SO Makarov State University of Maritime & River Fleet, which was attended by Minister of Transport Andrei Nikitin and Rosatom Director General Alexey Likhachev, as well as representatives of Rosmorrechflot, Federal State Unitary Enterprise Rosmorport, the Administration of Sea Ports of the Baltic Sea and a number of other organisations. Sibir previously escorted ships in the most difficult areanear the port of Primorsk inthe Russian Far East.
“I would like to draw your attention to the fact that this year we are not eliminating the consequences of a critical situation, but preventing it,” said Likhachev. “A nuclear icebreaker is needed to escort large-capacity vessels. It is assigned the task of escorting 100,000-tonne oil tankers. Compared with diesel-electric icebreakers, it lays a wider shipping channel. During the time that Sibir has been in the waters of the Gulf of Finland, it has already escorted six large-capacity vessels.”
Transport Minister Nikitin noted: “In the Gulf of Finland today, in general, we have taken a number of appropriate measures in advance that will ensure the necessary cargo turnover even if the ice situation worsens. In the Baltic Sea, 11 Rosmorport icebreakers provide navigation; on 18 February, icebreaker Murmansk arrived in the Gulf of Finland. We are also in close cooperation with Rosatom. Every year since 2019, from between two and five Rosmorport icebreakers have been helping on the Northern Sea Route by carrying out icebreaker support for ships. During this navigation, we agreed with Rosatom to transfer nuclear icebreaker Sibir to participate in ice voyages in the Gulf of Finland. I thank Alexey Likhachev, for his prompt assistance.”
“I am sure that this example of coordinated interaction between all participants – the Ministry of Transport, Rosmorrechflot, Rosmorport, Roshydromet, the Administration of Sea Ports of the Baltic Sea, Rosatom and our partners in the Arctic – will become the first page in the success story of the Trans-Arctic Transport Corridor,” Likhachev said. “To ensure transport connectivity of the country, its western and eastern regions, just such joint and systematic work is needed.” He also noted that the transfer of the nuclear-powered icebreaker to the Baltic will not affect the stability and uninterrupted navigation along the Northern Sea Route, where seven nuclear icebreakers are currently working.
In the Russian maritime and environmental sectors, Rosmorrechflot, Rosmorport, and Roshydromet represent three distinct levels of authority: the regulator, the commercial operator, and the monitoring service.Rosmorrechflot (Federal Agency for Sea and Inland Water Transport) is the government regulator under the Ministry of Transport. It manages state property in seaports and inland waterways, issues navigation permits, certifies ship crews and captains, and oversees maritime rescue services. It is responsible for transport security and implementing international maritime treaties.
Rosmorport is a state-owned enterprise that functions as the primary operator of port infrastructure. It maintains and develops berths, piers, breakwaters, and underwater hydraulic structures (like access channels). It operates one of the world’s largest diesel-electric icebreaking fleets (34 vessels) and provides pilotage, towage, and vessel traffic management. It also collects harbour dues and provides essential port services like drinking water supply, mooring, and dredging. Roshydromet (Federal Service for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring)
Roshydromet is the scientific and monitoring service under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. It provides weather, ice, and hydrological forecasts essential for safe navigation, especially in the Arctic and on the Northern Sea Route. It tracks air and water pollution levels and manages the Unified State Data Fund on the environment. It conducts research on the atmosphere, World Ocean, and space weather (ionosphere/magnetic field and manages the Russian Antarctic Expedition and research stations in the Arctic.
For Rosatom this is not the first experience of sending a nuclear-powered ship to the Baltic. In 2011, a similar weather situation was observed in the Gulf of Finland, when 175 ships were trapped in ice. They were rescued by the nuclear icebreaker Vaigach, which operated in the Baltic for a month and a half. In subsequent winters, until 2014, nuclear icebreakers also took part in escorting ships in the bay, ensuring the safe passage of about 1,000 ships over four years.
