SEVASTOPOL, October 11. /TASS/: The Ivan Papanin-class multi-purpose reefer ship, developed by the St. Petersburg-based company Ugreftransflot, will be able to serve the Northern Sea Route’s infrastructure, and Arctic scientific and military bases without icebreaker support thanks to its hull reinforcement and electric propulsion system, curator of the project and member of the company’s board of directors Victor Kot told TASS on Monday.
"Thanks to the advanced technical equipment of the reefer ship belonging to the ARC-7 Ivan-Papapin ice-breaker class will be high-speed in its class of vessels and without being accompanied by icebreakers will be able to provide the Northern Sea Route infrastructure, and scientific and military bases in the Arctic zone," Kot said. The vessel will be able to promptly deliver and unload cargo using its own cranes, modules with repair shops, medical and residential blocks, as well as groups of specialists."
He emphasized that the vessel’s bow will be covered with specially-fortified ice protection. Thanks to the new Azipod marine propulsion system and ice reinforcement of the stern, the vessel will be able to break ice up to 2.1 meters thick, moving also forward with the stern. Such a reefer ship will be equipped with an ice radar station to construct an optimal route in the ice.
According to Kot, the Ivan Papanin-class vessel will be environmentally safe thanks to the use of a dual-fuel power plant with the ability to operate on both diesel and liquefied natural gas.
