Yakutiya

Just in time for winter operations, Russia's most modern nuclear-powered icebreaker "Yakutiya", was en route from the Baltic Sea to Murmansk after its departure from St. Petersburg on Dec 1, 2025. The ship is needed for Russia's oil and gas exports via the North-East Sea passage. The German Federal Police escorted the vessel near Fehmarn on Dec 6. The "Yakutiya," owned by the state-owned shipping company Rosatomflot, was facing its first winter in the Arctic Ocean after completing its warranty dry-docking. The passage of the nuclear-powered icebreaker through the Fehmarn Belt was escorted by the German Federal Police patrol vessel "Eschwege". The escort began shortly after 9:00 a.m. southwest of the port of Gedser. After passing through the Fehmarn Belt, the "Eschwege" turned around at approximately 11:00 a.m. and handed over observation duties to the Danish Navy. The "Yakutiya" is the fourth nuclear-powered icebreaker of the new "Arktica" class, of which seven ships are planned. The vessel is powered by two RITM-200 reactors of Russian manufacture. In the Siberian Seaway, the vessel can traverse solid ice up to 2.8 meters thick while maintaining a speed of three knots. The ship enables Russia to export oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the Siberian regions year-round. The state-owned shipping company Rosatomflot will be able to deploy eight nuclear-powered icebreakers there for the first time. The four new nuclear-powered icebreakers of the "Artika" class can safely escort LNG tankers up to 300 meters length through the ice of the Northeast Passage. At the Baltic Shipyard in St. Petersburg, the "Khukotka" is currently being outfitted as the fifth icebreaker of the new class. On Nov 18 the keel-laying ceremony for the next icebreaker took place in St. Petersburg. The last ships of the class were originally supposed to be named "Kamchatka" and "Sakhalin." However, by order of Putin, these ships will now be named "Leningrad" and "Stalingrad". German report with photo: https://www.kn-online.de/lokales/ostholstein/russischer-atomeisbrecher-vor-fehmarn-polizei-eskorte-fuer-koloss-bei-ostsee-passage-FGCZ77TL2JE23PMOBL66VOK3OI.html