The multipurpose nuclear-powered Project 22220 icebreaker Yakutia, which arrived at its home port of Murmansk last weekend, set off on Tuesday on its maiden voyage to the Yenisei region of the Kara Sea, Atomflot Federal State Unitary Enterprise reported.

“On April 15, the third serial multipurpose nuclear-powered icebreaker Yakutia went out on its first working voyage. The vessel is heading towards the Yenisei region of the Kara Sea,” reads the report.

The vessel left St. Petersburg and passed through the Baltic Sea, the Atlantic, the Barents Sea and moored in a port in the Kola Bay. The new icebreaker’s operational life is estimated as four decades.

The Yakutia icebreaker was laid down at the Baltic Shipyard USC on May 26, 2020; on November 22, 2022, the icebreaker was launched at a ceremony attended by President of Russia Vladimir Putin. In May 2024, the Yakutia began mooring trials. Last October, specialists started working on the physical launch of the nuclear power plant. At the end of 2024, the vessel completed factory sea trials. The serial icebreaker Yakutia joined the Russian nuclear icebreaker fleet at the end of last year.

The Project 22220 multipurpose dual draught nuclear icebreakers with 60-megawatt capacity are currently the largest and most powerful in the world. Their main task is to ensure year-round navigation in the western part of the Arctic. Each icebreaker is powered by two RITM-200 reactors. The main advantage of this reactor unit is its compactness and economy, which makes it possible to make the icebreakers dual draught and ensure advanced technical specifications of the vessel in terms of speed and ice passage. Such reactors also have a high energy resource. Project 22220 nuclear icebreakers can guide a number of vessels in Arctic conditions, breaking through ice up to three meters thick.