Russia has four ocean-going, nuclear-powered icebreakers in commission, the Russia, Soviet Union, Yamal and 50 Years of Victory, and two, the Taimyr and Vaigach, especially built for shallow waters.
The larger, Arktika-class icebreakers have a double hull, with an outer hull 48mm thick along the ice-breaking edges. Water ballast between the inner and outer hulls can be pumped to forward compartments to aid icebreaking, which can also be assisted by an air-bubbling system delivering jets of air from 9 metres below the surface. Some ships have polymer coated hulls to reduce friction.
The larger Russian vessels are 159 metres long with a beam of 30 metres and are between 23,000 and 25,000 tonnes with a cruising speed of 18 to 20 knots. They can carry a crew of about 140 and up to 100 passengers. Their twin reactors can generate 171 megawatts each and can break ice up to a maximum of 2.8m thick. The ships can spend more than seven months at sea, continuous steaming and need refuelling only every four years.
