Giant ship operates in the Russian Arctic with two nuclear reactors, with enough power to break ice up to 3 meters thick and was built to operate in temperatures as low as -50°C; meet the Arktika, an icebreaker ship.

Written by Andriely Medeiros de Araújo

Published on 27/05/2026 at 19:50

Updated on 27/05/2026 at 19:51

1 person reacted to this.

The icebreaker ship Arktika operates in the Russian Arctic with two nuclear reactors and 80,000 HP. See how it keeps the Northern Sea Route navigable.

The icebreaker ship Arktika has established itself as one of the main components of Russia’s strategy to keep navigation in the Arctic active throughout the year. Built to operate in temperatures as low as -50 °C and in regions of polar darkness, the nuclear giant leads Project 22220 and works on opening maritime corridors in the so-called Northern Sea Route, a connection between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans along Russia’s Arctic coast.

With a length of 173.3 meters, a displacement of 33,540 tons, and the ability to break through ice layers up to 3 meters thick, the Arktika was designed to allow the continuous passage of cargo ships, ore carriers, and liquefied natural gas tankers operating in Siberian ports. The vessel began operations in October 2020 and is part of a series of six units managed by Rosatomflot.

Icebreaker ship Arktika was created to keep the route active in winter

The main function of the Arktika is to ensure that the Northern Sea Route remains navigable even during the harshest periods of the polar winter. The route is considered strategic because it reduces the distance between Europe and Asia by up to 40% compared to the traditional route through the Suez Canal.

ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW

Dimensions and performance draw attention

The technical data of the icebreaker place the Arktika among the largest and most powerful ships in its category. In open waters, the vessel can reach speeds of up to 22 knots, equivalent to approximately 40.7 km/h.

When operating on ice, performance changes according to the thickness of the frozen layer. At cruising speed, the ship can advance over ice 2.8 meters thick. At reduced speed, between 1.5 and 2 knots, the capacity reaches 3 meters.

Another differential is the dual draft system, which allows adaptation to different depths:

10.5 meters in open sea
9.03 meters in shallow estuaries

This feature expands the ship’s area of operation and facilitates operations in regions close to northern Russian ports.

Nuclear reactors are the heart of the ship

The strength of the Arktika comes from two RITM-200 nuclear reactors. Each unit produces 175 MW thermal, totaling 350 MW. This energy is converted into 60 MW on the ship’s shafts, equivalent to about 80,000 horsepower.

The nuclear system design was developed to occupy less space and increase operational efficiency. According to information from the RITM-200 page, components such as the steam generator, primary circuit pumps, and pressurizer are integrated into the reactor vessel itself.

The Arktika icebreaker operates in the Russian Arctic with two nuclear reactors and 80,000 HP. See how it keeps the Northern Sea Route navigable. (image for illustrative purposes only)

This configuration reduces weight, eliminates external piping, and makes the assembly more compact for naval application.

Among the main details of the system are:

Each reactor is 7.3 meters tall
The diameter reaches 3.3 meters
Refueling occurs only every 7 years
The model is lighter and more powerful than previous versions used in Soviet ships

Additionally, the 11th RITM-200 reactor was completed on May 13, 2026, and will be destined for the future icebreaker Leningrad.

Project 22220 fleet expands Russian presence in the Arctic

The Arktika does not operate alone. It leads a series of vessels from Project 22220 built at the Baltic Shipyard, located in Saint Petersburg.

The expansion of the fleet shows Russian interest in strengthening its maritime structure in the Arctic on an industrial scale.

Check the status of the units until May 2026:

Ship	Commissioning	Status
Arktika	October 2020	In active operation
Sibir	January 2022	In active operation
Ural	November 2022	In active operation
Yakutia	December 2024	In active operation
Chukotka	Scheduled for 2026	Under construction
Leningrad	Scheduled for 2028	Under construction

Meanwhile, the new ships under construction are expected to further expand the escort and route opening capacity in the polar region.

Icebreaker Arktika sustains strategic cargo transportation

The continuous operation of the Northern Sea Route depends directly on the performance of nuclear icebreakers. Without them, large maritime areas remain blocked for much of the year.

In practice, the Arktika keeps active the corridors used by:

freighters
ore ships
liquefied natural gas (LNG) tankers

Therefore, the vessel plays a central role in the maritime logistics of the Russian far north.

By combining high autonomy, great power, and the ability to operate in severe environments, the icebreaker Arktika has become one of the pillars of the maritime infrastructure built by Russia to ensure a constant presence in the Arctic.

With information from Revista Forum

0 Comments

most recent

older Most voted

Giant ship operates in the Russian Arctic with two nuclear reactors, with enough power to break ice up to 3 meters thick and was built to operate in temperatures as low as -50°C; meet the Arktika, an icebreaker ship.

The icebreaker ship Arktika operates in the Russian Arctic with two nuclear reactors and 80,000 HP. See how it keeps the Northern Sea Route navigable.

Icebreaker ship Arktika was created to keep the route active in winter

Dimensions and performance draw attention

Nuclear reactors are the heart of the ship

Project 22220 fleet expands Russian presence in the Arctic

Icebreaker Arktika sustains strategic cargo transportation

Engineers want to carve through Africa with a giant canal to bring water from the world’s second-largest river to a dying lake on the edge of the Sahara Desert that has already lost 90% of its water.

A giant brown band visible from space, approximately 8,850 kilometers long, connected Africa to America in the Atlantic Ocean, and satellites revealed that it is neither land nor pollution, but the largest accumulation of seaweed in the world, which broke records in 2025.

Instead of burning or burying old tires, an American city is transforming about 2,000 of them into the street itself, paving its first sections with a quieter and more durable rubber asphalt.

In just one cast, fishermen are surprised to capture 14,096 mullets in Bombinhas and close a historic season with 58,000 fish; scene recorded in the Santa Catarina paradise marks the last day of the 2026 season.

Consumers eat six times more chicken than in the 1960s, global meat supply quadruples in 60 years, and FAO report reveals the invisible cost on the plate: livestock could drive 80% of the increase in agricultural emissions over the next decade.

Greek island offers free housing for volunteers, but there’s a condition: you need to take care of rescued cats.

Motorcyclist sees excavator arriving at the edge of a river in Bosnia, calls neighbors in minutes and turns a hydroelectric project into a resistance lasting more than 10 years with five expired concessions.

Martian dust, potato starch, and a pinch of salt become “space concrete” twice as strong as the usual in research that could change the construction of bases outside Earth.

A family from Martins, in the interior of RN, planted seeds in their backyard that no one remembered where they came from and harvested a green and yellow fruit with the face of the Brazilian flag; the nickname “jerimum da Copa” caught on before they discovered what had actually grown there.

A family from Martins, in the interior of RN, planted seeds in their backyard that no one remembered where they came from and harvested a green and yellow fruit resembling the Brazilian flag; the nickname “World Cup pumpkin” caught on before they discovered what had actually grown there.

Goodbye oil-bathed belt? Company creates kit that replaces criticized system with metal chain and targets owners tired of engine headaches

Brazil hasn’t won a World Cup since the time when brick cell phones were a luxury, dial-up internet froze everything, ICQ had user numbers, and Windows XP seemed like futuristic technology.

Giant ship operates in the Russian Arctic with two nuclear reactors, with enough power to break ice up to 3 meters thick and was built to operate in temperatures as low as -50°C; meet the Arktika, an icebreaker ship.

The icebreaker ship Arktika operates in the Russian Arctic with two nuclear reactors and 80,000 HP. See how it keeps the Northern Sea Route navigable.

Icebreaker ship Arktika was created to keep the route active in winter

Dimensions and performance draw attention

Nuclear reactors are the heart of the ship

Project 22220 fleet expands Russian presence in the Arctic

Icebreaker Arktika sustains strategic cargo transportation

Engineers want to carve through Africa with a giant canal to bring water from the world’s second-largest river to a dying lake on the edge of the Sahara Desert that has already lost 90% of its water.

A giant brown band visible from space, approximately 8,850 kilometers long, connected Africa to America in the Atlantic Ocean, and satellites revealed that it is neither land nor pollution, but the largest accumulation of seaweed in the world, which broke records in 2025.

Instead of burning or burying old tires, an American city is transforming about 2,000 of them into the street itself, paving its first sections with a quieter and more durable rubber asphalt.

In just one cast, fishermen are surprised to capture 14,096 mullets in Bombinhas and close a historic season with 58,000 fish; scene recorded in the Santa Catarina paradise marks the last day of the 2026 season.

Consumers eat six times more chicken than in the 1960s, global meat supply quadruples in 60 years, and FAO report reveals the invisible cost on the plate: livestock could drive 80% of the increase in agricultural emissions over the next decade.

Greek island offers free housing for volunteers, but there’s a condition: you need to take care of rescued cats.

Motorcyclist sees excavator arriving at the edge of a river in Bosnia, calls neighbors in minutes and turns a hydroelectric project into a resistance lasting more than 10 years with five expired concessions.

Before the great colonial centers were born, São Vicente was already voting: in 1532, the first city in Brazil held the first recorded elections in the Americas and marked the beginning of the continent’s political life on the coast of São Paulo.

Three-story house weighing 128,000 kg is lifted by hydraulic jacks and removed from the coast in the US before being swallowed by the ocean; 20 properties have already collapsed in the region and the advance of the sea raises an alert for the Brazilian coast.

At 360 meters high, a glass bridge extends 35 meters over a canyon in Brazil, leaving visitors “floating” over the Vale da Ferradura, with views of the Caí River and the Caracol Waterfall.

The song that made the whole of Brazil sing during the 1970 World Cup seemed like just a celebration of the third championship, but it hid a much more complex story linked to the military dictatorship.

With a length of about 150 meters and an estimated weight of 300 tons, a giant hose appeared on a beach in Japan, and now the country must spend R$ 1.6 million to remove the stranded piece with no known owner.

Martian dust, potato starch, and a pinch of salt become “space concrete” twice as strong as the usual in research that could change the construction of bases outside Earth.

A family from Martins, in the interior of RN, planted seeds in their backyard that no one remembered where they came from and harvested a green and yellow fruit with the face of the Brazilian flag; the nickname “jerimum da Copa” caught on before they discovered what had actually grown there.

A family from Martins, in the interior of RN, planted seeds in their backyard that no one remembered where they came from and harvested a green and yellow fruit resembling the Brazilian flag; the nickname “World Cup pumpkin” caught on before they discovered what had actually grown there.

Goodbye oil-bathed belt? Company creates kit that replaces criticized system with metal chain and targets owners tired of engine headaches

Brazil hasn’t won a World Cup since the time when brick cell phones were a luxury, dial-up internet froze everything, ICQ had user numbers, and Windows XP seemed like futuristic technology.