UrBC, Magnitogorsk, September 26, 2017. Sibir, the nuclear powered icebreaker in the Project 22220 series, was put on water at Saint Petersburg Baltic Shipyard on September 22, 2017. The body of the vessel was made from metal supplied by Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK), the company press service reports.

There are currently three icebreakers in the 22220 series, including Arktika and Ural. MMK supplies metal for these vessels as well.

Arktika and Ural are the world’s biggest and most powerful icebreakers. Sibir’s parameters are: tonnage: 33,500,000 kg; length: 173 meters; width: 34 meters. The icebreaker can move at up to 22 knots an hour in obstacle-free water. Sibir can head caravans of vessels in the Arctic and break ice that is up to three meters thick as it moves,’ the press service says.

MMK provides over 50% of all metal goods needed in the national shipbuilding industry. In 2016, the company supplied 72,000,000 kg of metal goods to Russian shipbuilding companies. In addition to icebreakers in the 22220 Project, shipyards across the country are now working on a number of other advanced icebreakers such as diesel-electric Aker ARC 130 A and the world’s largest multifunctional linear diesel-electric icebreaker Viktor Chernomyrdin.