Russia to sell off its nuclear ice-breaker fleet

RT.com, 04 October, 2011

Ice-breaker (RIA Novosti / Vadim Zhernov)

A state-run company that operates atomic ice-breakers in Russia may soon become private.

AtomFleet has been removed from the list of previously untouchable assets.

This, however, does not mean the state is going to sell it off completely. The presidential order is expected to allow the fleet to be put up for auction, while still keeping 100 per cent of it as state property under the supervision of RosAtom.

Military specialists say the main reason behind the move is economic. Ever since the company became part of state-owned RosAtom, the losses experienced have amounted to millions of dollars annually. Private companies operating in northern Russia immediately started looking for cheaper alternatives.

The situation was worsened by the growing popularity of diesel ice-breakers. As a result, the demand for nuclear-powered icebreakers went down, while the maintenance cost of nuclear-powered icebreakers remained the same, making them highly unprofitable to operate.

Russia has been the only country to produce nuclear-powered icebreakers. Currently, Russia’s atomic fleet owns four two-reactor icebreakers (“Rossiya”, “Soviet Union”, “Yamal”, and “50 Years of Victory”), two one-reactor icebreakers (“Taimyr” and “Vaigach”), the “Sevmorput” container ship, and five floating technical aid units.

Nuclear icebreakers are not the only pieces of Russian equipment rumored to be put aside.

Earlier there were media reports that the Russian Navy was getting rid of its most powerful submarines, the Typhoon class.

Designed to carry big nuclear warheads, the Typhoon-class submarines are the largest in the world. However, their immense size was said to be the main reason why the country decided to decommission the underwater veterans.

The vessels, it was said, did not meet the terms of the new START treaty signed by Russia and the US in the spring of 2010. The long-awaited treaty considerably limited the strategic arsenals of each country to 1,550 nuclear warheads.

The rumors, however, proved to be a hoax.