NS Stalingrad icebreaker

One of the world’s largest icebreaking vessels, Stalingrad (originally named Kamchatka), is scheduled for launch (float-out from drydock) in November 2026 and planned for completion and commissioning in December 2028.

The vessel’s construction officially began on January 26, 2024, with the keel-laying ceremony held at the Baltic Shipyard in Sankt Petersburg.

The ship is equipped with two RITM-200 nuclear reactors (steam generator/power plant), each with 175 MW thermal capacity (350 MW combined output).

The shipbuilding contract for two additional “Project 22220” units (Yakutia and Chukotka, bringing the series to five vessels) was signed in August 2019. Under the contract, the shipbuilding cost per unit is RUB 50 billion (~USD 720 million / ~EUR 640 million).

The vessel was originally named after the Kamchatka Peninsula in the Russian Far East, bordering the Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Okhotsk. Kamchatka Krai includes the Commander Islands, Karaginsky Island and the Peninsula. Of the region’s ~330,000 residents, most live in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky (~180,000) and Yelizovo (~40,000).

The vessel’s new name (changed in November 2023) honors today’s city of Volgograd, originally Tsaritsyn (Царицын), renamed Stalingrad between 1925 and 1961. The name commemorates the Battle of Stalingrad (August 23, 1942 – February 2, 1943), which claimed more than 1.9 million lives.

On September 5, 2021, Rosatom Deputy Director Maxim Kulinko stated that year-round navigation on the Northern Sea Route requires two additional Project 22220 vessels (6th/Kamchatka–Stalingrad and 7th/Sakhalin–Leningrad). In April 2022, it was announced that the Russian Federation would allocate RUB 118 billion (~USD 1.7B / EUR 1.6B) from the federal budget for the two additional icebreakers (RUB 59B / USD 851M / EUR 807M per unit), with scheduled deliveries in December 2028 and December 2030.

On February 2, 2023, FSUE Atomflot (shipowner) and JSC Baltiyskiy Zavod (shipbuilder) signed contracts for the 6th and 7th Project 22220 vessels (Kamchatka/Stalingrad and Sakhalin/Leningrad). The documents were signed by Leonid Irlitsa (Atomflot CEO) and Yury Stepanovich Gordienkov (Baltiyskiy Zavod CEO).

FSUE Atomflot officially announced the names of the 6th and 7th LC-60YA-class vessels on March 30, 2023, scheduling their launches for May 2024 (Kamchatka/Stalingrad) and November 2025 (Sakhalin/Leningrad). As with all Project 22220 vessels, the names honor Arctic territories served by the Northern Sea Route (Северный морской путь), which runs ~5600 km / 3500 mi above Siberia from Novaya Zemlya to the Bering Strait (Cape Zhelaniya).

NS Kamchatka/Stalingrad’s construction officially started with the steel-cutting ceremony on August 14, 2023.

JSC Baltiyskiy Zavod (established in 1856) is a wholly owned subsidiary of USC/United Shipbuilding Corporation, Russia’s largest shipbuilding enterprise. The yard specializes in building and repairing ice-class vessels (nuclear and diesel-powered), as well as floating units such as nuclear power plants and desalination facilities.

On May 25, 2023, FSUE Atomflot and JSC Baltiyskiy Zavod signed a contract for a multifunctional nuclear-technical support vessel (Project 22770 icebreaker). Designed for refueling and servicing all nuclear icebreakers and the floating nuclear plant Akademik Lomonosov (MMSI 273381660; commissioned 2019; in service since 2020), the vessel is financed 50/50 by the Russian Federation and Rosatom. Scheduled for commissioning in 2029, the ship has DWT/displacement 22,600 tons, length 159 m, beam 26 m, draft 7.5 m and maximum speed 12 knots (22 kph / 14 mph).

Because Project 22220 vessels can operate in both deep-sea and shallow-water (river estuary) environments, ROSATOM effectively receives two types of icebreaking ships for the price of one, saving hundreds of millions of USD.

NS Kamchatka/Stalingrad and its sisterships are essential to Russia’s strategy for enabling year-round commercial and military operations along the Northern Sea Route. By 2030, the NSR is expected to handle over 150 million tonnes of cargo. The Russian Government designated ROSATOM to lead the route’s six-year infrastructure development program, funded at RUB 734.9 billion (USD 11.37B / EUR 10.17B). Of this amount, RUB 274 billion was contributed by the Government, with the remaining RUB 460+ billion provided by investors—primarily ROSATOM, ROSNEFT and NOVATEK.

ROSATOM (founded 2007) is a state-owned nuclear energy corporation headquartered in Moscow, comprising more than 360 entities engaged in scientific research, nuclear weapons and nuclear energy production. It operates the world’s only nuclear icebreaker fleet. In 2017, ROSATOM generated 202.868 billion kWh of electricity—18.9% of Russia’s total output. Its international portfolio includes 33 nuclear power plant units operating or under construction in 12 countries. The corporation also manufactures nuclear equipment, produces isotopes for medicine, conducts scientific research, develops supercomputers and software, and invests in renewable energy (including wind power). ROSATOM holds 17.7% of the global nuclear fuel market and ~35% of the world’s uranium enrichment services.

ROSNEFT (founded 1993) is a state-controlled oil and gas corporation headquartered in Moscow. Its activities include exploration, extraction, refining and transportation of petroleum and natural gas. ROSNEFT is Russia’s third-largest company and the second-largest state-controlled corporation (after Gazprom), and is the world’s 24th largest oil company by revenue (FY2017 – USD 103B / EUR 92.09B).

NOVATEK (founded 1994) is Russia’s second-largest natural gas producer and the world’s seventh-largest publicly listed gas company by production volume. The company is listed on the London (LSE) and Moscow (MCX) stock exchanges. Major shareholders include Leonid Michelson (CEO, ~28%), Volga Group (23%), Total SA (France, ~16%) and Gazprom (9.4%).