Shipyard in northwest Russia lays down Project 22220 nuclear powered icebreaker Ural.

"The icebreaker was laid down ahead of schedule. In accordance with the program, the icebreaker Ural was expected to be laid down in two months," Kiriyenko said at a ceremony of laying down the icebreaker. "We have sped up the financing of the Baltic Shipyard. All advances were paid in late June," he added.

According to the corporation’s head, the Project 22220 lead icebreaker Arktika is planned to be delivered to the customer in late 2017. The customer is expected to receive the icebreaker Sibir and the icebreaker Ural in 2019 and in late 2020, the head added.

The nuclear-powered icebreaker Ural is one of the three vessels that are being built to renew Russia’s nuclear-powered icebreaker fleet.

The service life of three Russian operational nuclear-powered icebreakers will expire by 2020. These icebreakers are expected to be replaced by the Project 22220 lead icebreaker Arktika and the serial-produced icebreakers Sibir and Ural.

The three Project 22220 icebreakers are currently under construction at the Baltic Shipyard in St. Petersburg on order of Rosatomflot Company, part of Russia’s Rosatom Corporation.

The Project 22220 lead icebreaker Arktika was laid down at the Baltic Shipyard in November 2013. The project is estimated at 122 billion rubles ($1.9 billion).

The icebreaker incorporates technologies that were not used in the nuclear-powered fleet earlier. In particular, the ship’s double draught with a controlled submersion depth will allow it to lead a group of vessels in ice-covered areas and river outlets and its new nuclear reactor will make it possible to navigate for more than six months without calling at ports for recharging.

The icebreaker is planned to be able to navigate about seven years without recharging.

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