Murmansk icebreaker

MS Murmansk ("ледокол Мурманск") is an icebreaking vessel owned and operated by Rosmorport. Rosmorport is a Russian FSUE ("Federal State Unitary Enterprise") created in 2012 by the Russian Federation's Ministry of Transport.

The vessel (IMO number 9658666) is Russia-flagged (MMSI 273386110) and registered in Sankt-Petersburg.

Among the newest Russian icebreaker ships, Murmansk is named after the port city Murmansk - the administrative center of Russia's Murmansk Oblast (region). This port is located in the extreme northwest part of the country, on Kola Bay (an inlet of Barents Sea, on the shore of Kola Peninsula) and near Russia's borders with Finland and Norway.

The icebreaker was built for the Russian Ministry of Transport and launched at Arctech Helsinki Shipyard on March 25, 2015. Before floating the ship, she was christened by the ceremonial breaking of a champagne bottle on the ship's bow. The vessel is able to sail in temperatures down to -40°С. Murmansk belongs to the series of 3 newbuilds ordered from Vyborg Shipyard.

The purchasing of major components and the basic design was provided by Vyborg, as well as 40% of the ship's hull blocks. Arctech was responsible for the construction, commissioning and outfitting of the vessel.

On December 25, 2015, the icebreaker's delivery ceremony took place at the shipbuilding yard Vyborg Shipyard PJSC. The ship acceptance act was signed by the top management of Rosmorport and Vyborg Shipyard. The icebreaker Vladivostok was also delivered there in October 2015. Within the framework of the occasion, the icebreaker hoisted the Russian Federation flag. The icebreaker's keel-laying ceremony was held at the Vyborg Shipyard exactly 3 years ago - on December 26, 2012.

Rosmorport's Murmansk itinerary program offers Baltic Sea and Arctic cruise expeditions.

Murmansk icebreaker vessel details

Project 21900 and 21900M icebreakers (aka LK-16), represent a series of 5 Russian ice-breakers. Two Project 21900 ships (Sankt Peterburg and Moskva) were built in St Petersburg (by Baltic Shipyard) and three Project 21900M ships were constructed as follows: two at Vyborg Shipyard (Vyborg, Leningrad Oblast) and one at Arctech Helsinki Shipyard.

The main purpose of this class icebreakers is assisting of heavy-tonnage ships, as well as towing of floating structures both in the open sea and in ice.

The 21900M class double-deck ice-breakers are equipped with a helideck and feature an improved design and higher performance characteristics when compared to the 21900 class. Project 21900M has been classified by RMRS (Russian Maritime Register of Shipping) as ice-class "Icebreaker6". All these ships are intended for the Baltic Sea and Northern Sea Route along Russia's Arctic coast.

Besides Murmansk, the other two "Project 21900M" class sisterships are Novorossiysk (2016) and Vladivostok (2015).

The list of services intended for these newest Russian icebreaker ships includes towage, escorting heavy-tonnage vessels, salvage and assistance vessels in distress, fire fighting on floating facilities, transportation of effective cargoes.

The vessel has 1 dining room, Sauna, 1 swimming pool (indoor, heated), 1 elevator, 1 helipad (Helideck).

• Max Draft: 8,5 m (28 ft)
• DWT Deadweight tonnage: 5370 tons
• Displacement tonnage: 10000 tons
• Icebreaking capacity: 1,5 m
• cargo capacity: 33 TEUs (containers)
• cargo deck size 800 m2 (8600 ft2)
• Range: 20000 km (13000 ml)
• Powerplant: Four Wartsila diesel engines (6,75 MW each, total power output 27 MW)
• Propulsion: Diesel-electric; 2x Steerprop azimuth thrusters (8,7 MW each, total power output 17,4 MW)

Note: In the case of poor AIS coverage, tracking the vessel's current location will be impossible. You can see CruiseMapper's list of all icebreakers and ice-breaking research ships in the "itinerary" section of our Icebreakers hub. All states and their fleets are listed there.