Paul Goble
Staunton, Aug. 10 – A new tugboat which Moscow had identified as a key part of the Kremlin’s Arctic strategy (https://iz.ru/1602944/2023-11-10/severnyi-flot-poluchit-novyi-ledovyi-buksir-sergei-ushakov) capsized and sank on Aug. 9 before it left the yards in St. Petersburg where it was being outfitted.
It will now take months if not years to repair given that the ship has filled with saltwater and must be completely refitted, The Barents Observer says in reporting this latest failure of Russian shipbuilding and of Moscow’s efforts to develop its presence in the Arctic (thebarentsobserver.com/security/brand-new-arctic-military-tug-capsized-at-pier/434823).
The ship, already known as the Kapitan Ushakov, was the first of a new generation of ships that Moscow has announced to service bases along the Northern Sea Route. But it is now likely that the Russian authorities will have to revisit their plans for such ships, something that will further delay Moscow’s expansion in the north.
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