TSAMTO, November 6th. On November 6, Russian President Vladimir Putin took part in the launching ceremony of the nuclear icebreaker Chukotka via video link.
The new icebreaker is being built at the Baltic Plant by order of the Rosatom State Corporation. It became the fifth nuclear-powered vessel of the 22220 project. These nuclear icebreakers are the largest and most powerful in the world, their task is to ensure year–round navigation in the Arctic.
Below is a welcome speech by V.Putin's speech at the ceremony is given in the statement of the Kremlin's press service.
Vladimir Putin: "Dear colleagues, good afternoon! I am very glad to see you all.
Today we have a big, significant event related to the large-scale development of the Arctic, Siberia, and the Far East.
A new nuclear icebreaker Chukotka will be launched from the stocks of the Baltic Plant in St. Petersburg today. Congratulations to everyone on this important milestone in the history of our modern icebreaking fleet. And of course, I thank the specialists who participate in this work for their responsibility and high professionalism.
The nuclear icebreaker Chukotka will become the fourth serial icebreaker of this project – this is a serial one, and before that there was another one. In addition, two more ships of the same class are being built at the Baltic Shipyard – Yakutia and Leningrad.
And next year, as agreed, the icebreaker Stalingrad of the same series should be laid. In addition, the new generation nuclear icebreaker Leader, the most powerful, is being built at the Far Eastern shipyard Zvezda.
The creation of such powerful, modern vessels is another embodiment of Russia's industrial, scientific, human and technological potential. That's exactly how the entire domestic economy should develop on the basis of its own technologies and breakthrough scientific solutions.
I would like to emphasize again that the implementation of our plans for the development of Arctic territories and for increasing cargo traffic on the routes of the Northern Sea Route directly depends on strengthening the country's icebreaking fleet.
As you know, we have ambitious goals here. There is a lot of work ahead. With this in mind, I propose to hold a special meeting on this topic in the future, to work deeply, prepare and discuss all issues related to the long-term development of the Northern Sea Route in a comprehensive manner, while reaching concrete, substantive solutions. This is how we approached the issues of the development of the Eastern Polygon, the modernization of the BAM and the Trans-Siberian Railway.
In particular, it is necessary to think about the formation of more effective tariffs for icebreaking cargo transportation so that more carriers and senders can use such services. Moreover, interest in this route is growing every year from both Russian and foreign companies – and I am sure it will grow.
In general, we have to significantly increase the safety and reliability of navigation in this region. To do this, we will continue to improve the quality of satellite navigation, communications, and ice monitoring, modernize the infrastructure of Arctic ports, and lay the necessary railway lines to them. Among other things, we are talking about expanding and increasing the capacity of short- and long-distance railway approaches to the Murmansk transport hub, as well as the construction of a Northern latitudinal Passage with promising exits to the ports of Yamal, Taimyr and the north of the Krasnoyarsk Territory.
In conclusion, I would like to wish the shipbuilders and other participants in our Arctic projects further productive work and new great achievements for the benefit of Russia."
