Russia’s Much-Ballyhooed New Nuclear Icebreaker Sidelined Because Murmansk Lacks Dock Needed for Repairs

Paul Goble

            Staunton, July 4 – The Arktika, the lead ship in Russia’s much-ballyhooed new generation of nuclear icebreakers, is already experiencing the problems that have reduced the Russian fleet to much less than it might appear, with even new ships needing repairs Russian yards can’t supply.

            According to Thomas Nilsen, the editor of The Barents Observer, the ship, which was built in Turkey because Russian yards couldn’t handle the task, is stranded there because Russia lacks a northern dock in Murmansk (thebarentsobserver.com/news/nuclear-icebreaker-had-to-sail-all-to-st-petersburg-for-basic-hull-work-as-russias-lacks-northern-dock/432778).

            That compounds an earlier problem when during its first sea trials, the Arktika had to sale “more than 2300 nautical miles around Scandinavia” for servicing in St. Petersburg because Murmansk lacks a drydock capable of taking care of it or any other ships of that size. The reason? The drydock that the northern port sank and hasn’t been replaced.

            This is the latest example of something few other news outlets cover: tracking what happens to Russian ships after the bands stop playing at their launching and they are forced to try to cope with the problems that Russian shipbuilding has long been known for and that Putin shows no sign of being able to correct. 

Paul Goble

            Staunton, July 4 – The Arktika, the lead ship in Russia’s much-ballyhooed new generation of nuclear icebreakers, is already experiencing the problems that have reduced the Russian fleet to much less than it might appear, with even new ships needing repairs Russian yards can’t supply.

            According to Thomas Nilsen, the editor of The Barents Observer, the ship, which was built in Turkey because Russian yards couldn’t handle the task, is stranded there because Russia lacks a northern dock in Murmansk (thebarentsobserver.com/news/nuclear-icebreaker-had-to-sail-all-to-st-petersburg-for-basic-hull-work-as-russias-lacks-northern-dock/432778).

            That compounds an earlier problem when during its first sea trials, the Arktika had to sale “more than 2300 nautical miles around Scandinavia” for servicing in St. Petersburg because Murmansk lacks a drydock capable of taking care of it or any other ships of that size. The reason? The drydock that the northern port sank and hasn’t been replaced.

            This is the latest example of something few other news outlets cover: tracking what happens to Russian ships after the bands stop playing at their launching and they are forced to try to cope with the problems that Russian shipbuilding has long been known for and that Putin shows no sign of being able to correct.