Novorossiysk icebreaker

MS Novorossiysk ("ледокол Новороссийск" 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 9692571) is Russia-flagged (MMSI 273389730) and registered in Sankt-Petersburg.

Among the newest Russian icebreaker ships, Novorossiysk is named after a city in Russia's Krasnodar Krai. It is the country's main port on the Black Sea, and leading Russian port for grain export. The vessel is able to sail in temperatures as cold as -40°С. Novorossiysk belongs to the series of 3 new buildings ordered from Vyborg Shipyard by the Russian Ministry of Transport. Novorossiysk icebreaker was laid down in December 2012. On October 29, 2015, the shipbuilder Vyborg Shipyard held a ceremonial launching of the Novorossiysk. The vessel is a sister of Vladivostok, which was delivered in October 2015.

The official ceremony was attended by the management of Rosmorrechflot (Federal Marine and River Transport Agency), Russian Maritime Register of Shipping, FSUE Rosmorport, USC (United Shipbuilding Corporation), local authorities and representatives of the shipyard’s partners. The hull of Novorossiysk was assembled at the Atlant - a semi-submersible barge ship built specially for implementation of this order. To launch the hull, the Atlant barge was towed to the Vyborg Bay's deepwater area.

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

Novorossiysk 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 icebreakers are equipped with a helideck and feature an improved design and higher performance characteristics when compared to 21900 class icebreakers. Project 21900M has been classified by RMRS (Russian Maritime Register of Shipping) as ice-class "Icebreaker6". The maximum icebreaking capability of 21900 and 21900M class ships is 1.5 m. The icebreakers are intended for the Baltic Sea and Northern Sea Route along Russia’s Arctic coast.

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