Worlds Only Nuclear Cargo Ship Put Back to Work

By
Mfame Team
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The Only Nuclear Cargo Ship In The World to Sail Through Arctic

Sevmorput.jpg

The Sevmorput is the world’s only nuclear-powered container ship till date.  It is being under making for a vital purpose.  It is to transport the building materials to Russia’s new military base on Kotelny Island in the New Siberian Islands.  The vessel at present has departed on May 5 with loads of building materials at Murmansk port.  It’s a maiden voyage for the ship along the Northern Sea Route in 10 years.  It has been accompanied by the icebreaker Yamal on its week-long journey.

“The tugs moved the nuclear-powered ship from the pier and it sailed for Kotelny Island, one of the Novosibirsk Islands, where it will unload consignments onto fast shore ice for the first time,” the press service said in a statement.

It took Murmansk port workers eight days to load 5,800 metric tons of various construction materials, cables and containers aboard the ship.  The Sevmorput will spend about a month in the Arctic Ocean, after which it will return to Murmansk with a batch of containers.

The 61,000 dwt Sevmorput was built in 1988 and it has a length of 260 meters.  It has been idle for a long time after decades of services along the Northern Sea Route.  Now it has been readied and is back to the waters.  Earlier the renovation work was started in 2013 and sea trials have been conducted for the past six months.

It is to play a crucial role in the transportation of military personnel to Russia’s new and upgraded Arctic bases.  Besides, it would also transport the cargo to the new Pavlovsk lead and zinc mine in Novaya Zemlya.

Noteworthy features about the Vessel

  • The Sevmorput was originally built at the Zaliv yard in the Ukraine.
  • It was a unique contribution to the Soviet fleet of civilian nuclear vessels after its entry into the service in 1988.
  • It was powered by a single KLT-40 nuclear fission reactor with a thermal output of 135 megawatts.
  • It features a single four-bladed, ducted controllable-pitch propeller mechanically coupled to a steam turbine.
  • It can carry 74 lighters (cargo barges) each with a cargo capacity of 300 tons, in six holds and in two layers on the stern deck.
  • When not carrying lighters, the Sevmorput can carry both 20-foot and 40-foot containers in three layers.  The total container capacity of the ship is 1,328 TEUs.

Source: Arctic