Russia Explores China’s Participation in Joint Construction of Arctic Icebreakers
Russia is pushing plans to jointly build vessels for the Arctic route with China and to introduce Chinese technology and equipment into its own shipyards. This move aims to attract China as a new shipbuilding partner amid cooperation with South Korean shipbuilders being suspended due to Western sanctions.
According to the South China Morning Post (SCMP) on the 12th (local time), Nikolai Patrushev, Russian presidential aide and chairman of the Maritime Commission, visited the Waigaoqiao shipyard in Shanghai on the 8th to discuss cooperation plans between Russian and Chinese shipbuilding companies with the management. This shipyard, under China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC), is one of China’s major large vessel construction bases.
Patrushev proposed a plan to jointly build several icebreakers for Arctic navigation with China at Russian shipyards. The construction includes vessels intended for China’s Arctic maritime transport, and the possibility of China independently securing an icebreaking merchant fleet was also mentioned. He introduced Russia‘s planned Arctic Transshipment Corridor project and referred to the possibility of joint construction of Chinese vessels that will use this route.
Russia Aims to Secure 17 Arctic Route Icebreakers by 2030
Russia is accelerating expansion of its own icebreaker fleet to be deployed on the Arctic route alongside discussions with China. State nuclear company Rosatom has proposed plans to increase the number of icebreakers supporting Arctic route navigation to 17 by 2030.
Actual construction work is ongoing; in August, two RITM-US$0.15 reactors were installed on the nuclear icebreaker Leningrad, being built at the Baltic Shipyard. Leningrad belongs to Russia‘s next-generation nuclear icebreaker program ‘Project 22220,’ measuring 173 meters long and 34 meters wide, designed to operate by breaking ice up to 3 meters thick.
Four other ships of the same class—Arktika, Sibir, Ural, and Yakutia—are already conducting cargo escort missions on the Arctic route. Additionally, the ultra-large nuclear icebreaker Rossiya, currently under construction aiming for service entry in 2030, will be added. Rossiya is equipped with two reactors delivering a total propulsion power of 120 megawatts (MW), capable of breaking ice up to 4.3 meters thick and securing a channel 50 meters wide.
The sea lanes opened by these icebreakers are used as export routes for Russian energy. According to an analysis released
Original Article: China, invited by Russia’s icebreaker ‘love call,’ may open the market blocked for Korea in China. — Economy