OREANDA-NEWS. St. Petersburg-based Baltiysky Zavod has launched a multipurpose icebreaker “Moscow” with diesel-electric power plant built to the order of Rosmorport FSUE, IA REGNUM reported from the ceremony dedicated to the event.

As Dmitri Dmitrenko, deputy head of the Federal Agency of Marine and River Transport, told at the solemn ceremony, the new vessel will escort 150,000-dwt tankers in the Baltic Sea. According to Dmitrenko, two more icebreakers of the same series are to be built besides this one. According to Yuri Parfeonov, head of Rosmorport FSUE, RUR 1,2 billion has already been allocated for construction of the “Moscow” icebreaker while the total value of the contract is RUR 2,7 billion.Baltisky Zavod won an international tender for the construction of two icebreakers for Rosmorport FSUE late in 2004. The total sum of the contract amounts to RUR 5 billion. It is the first icebreaker with diesel-electric power plant built at Russian shipyard throughout last 32 years. Earlier all Russian non-nuclear icebreakers were built abroad.

Line diesel-electric icebreaker is a double-decker. Icebreaker displacement is approx. 10 thousand t, length -116 m, breadth - 26,5 m, draught - 8,5 m, speed in open water - 17 knots. The crew is 25 persons. Icebreaker hull is designed for breaking up the ice formation over 1 meter thick. The icebreaker is designed for escort of the large-capacity tankers of 40-50 m in breadth; towage of ships in ice and open water conditions; assuring salvage and rescue operations and emergency aid to ships; recovery of oil and chemicals spillage in open sea and for fire fighting. Such capabilities are the most optimal for ship's operation in the waters of the Gulf of Finland.