Dudinka icebreaker

The 1970-built MS Dudinka ("ледокол Дудинка") is an icebreaking vessel owned and operated by the Russian mining and metallurgical company “Norilsk Nickel” (Moscow-headquartered).

The vessel (IMO number 6920094, built at Helsinki Shipyard, hull number 388) is currently Russia-flagged (MMSI 273314360) and homeported in Murmansk.

Named after the town of Dudinka (administrative center of Taymyrsky Dolgano-Nenetsky District, Krasnoyarsk Krai), the vessel is one of the Russian icebreakers. Until October 2006, she sailed under the name "Apu" and was mainly deployed for assisting commercial ships in the Baltic Sea. After commissioning, the vessel worked in the Gulf of Bothnia (Baltic Sea, between Finland and Sweden) under the Finnish Maritime Administration. Norilsk Nickel acquired her in 2006, after which she was re-registered in Dudinka, Russia.

Dudinka’s itinerary program serves the shipowner’s operations, providing icebreaking assistance along the Yenisei River. Norilsk Nickel specializes in nickel, copper, and palladium mining, with smelting facilities located in the Norilsk-Talnakh region (Krasnoyarsk Krai).

Dudinka icebreaker vessel details

The series originally consisted of two icebreakers, Apu and Varma, launched in 1968. Both were sold to Latvia in 1994. Three other vessels of similar design and technical characteristics are Tarmo (1963, Estonia-flagged), Tor (1964, Russia-flagged), and Njord (1969, Canada-flagged, later renamed Polar Star).

• Facilities: 1 dining room, sauna, 1 swimming pool, no elevators, 1 helipad
• Maximum draught: 6 m
• DWT (deadweight): 1219
• Fuel capacity: 937 tons

Note: In case of poor AIS coverage, tracking the vessel’s current location may be impossible. CruiseMapper’s list of all icebreakers and icebreaking research ships can be found in the "itinerary" section of our Icebreakers hub, where all fleets are listed by state.