ST. PETERSBURG (Sputnik) — A year ago, the Baltic Shipyard signed a contract worth 84.4 billion rubles ($1.6 billion under the current exchange rate) with Russia’s state-run atomic energy agency Rosatom to build two Project 22220 icebreakers by 2020. The ships will be commissioned in December 2019 and December 2020 respectively.
"The Arctic is full of opportunities… But you cannot just walk into it empty-handed, you need to be armed with modern technology – vessels, ships, communications and much more…" Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said at the keel-laying ceremony, as cited by RIA Novosti.
In a separate deal, the Russian atomic agency paid 37 billion rubles (roughly $1.1 billion in 2012) for Project 22220’s maiden ship, named the Arktika. It was laid down in November 2013 and is due to be launched in December 2017. The vessel is billed as the world's largest and most powerful vessel of its kind.
Rosatom’s chief Sergei Kirienko, who was at the keel-laying ceremony, lauded the future additions to the country’s nuclear-powered fleet, saying they would bolster Russia’s bid to expand Arctic shelf exploration and strengthen its military capabilities.
The Arctic shelf is believed to hold huge amounts of oil and natural gas. Russia has been laying claims to deposits within its offshore border areas, as have four other Arctic nations – the United States, Canada, Norway and Denmark.
