- NS 50 Let Pobedy
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50 Let PobedyCareer ( 
)
Owner: Russian Federation Port of registry: Murmansk[1] Builder: Baltic Works in Leningrad, USSR/Saint Petersburg, Russia Yard number: 705 Laid down: October 4, 1989 Launched: 1993 Commissioned: March 12, 2007[1] Maiden voyage: 2007 Homeport: Murmansk, Russia Identification: IMO number: 9152959
Call sign UGYUFate: active in service General characteristics Class and type: Ice breaker, Arktika class,
Russian class "KM(*) LL1 [2] A"Tonnage: 23439 metric tons gross Displacement: 25840t Length: 159.60 m (524 ft) Beam: 30.00 m (28.00 m at the waterline) Draught: 11.08 m Depth: 17.2 m Ice class: LL1 Installed power: 2×27.6 MW (37,012 hp) Nuclear reactors, model "TGG-27,5 OM5" Propulsion: 3×17.6 MW (23,602 hp) electric propulsion motors Speed: up to 21.4 knots (39.6 km/h) Endurance: 4 years Capacity: 128 passengers Crew: 140 crew members NS 50 Let Pobedy (Russian: 50 лет Победы), translated as 50 Years of Victory or Fiftieth Anniversary of Victory, is a Russian Arktika class nuclear powered icebreaker, the largest in the world as of 2007[update].[2]
Construction on project no. 10521 started on October 4, 1989 at the Baltic Works in Leningrad (currently Saint Petersburg), USSR. Originally the ship was named NS Ural. Work was halted in 1994 for lack of funds, so that the actual fiftieth anniversary of Victory Day, in 1995, found the ship in an abandoned state. Construction was restarted in 2003.
On 30 November 2004, a fire broke out on the ship. All workers aboard the vessel had to be evacuated while the fire crews battled the fire for some 20 hours before getting it under control; one worker was sent to the hospital. There was no threat of radioactive contamination as the nuclear reactor did not yet have fuel inside.
She was finally completed in the beginning of 2007, after the 60th Anniversary. The icebreaker sailed into the Gulf of Finland for two weeks of sea trials on February 1, 2007.
Upon completing sea trials, the icebreaker returned to St-Petersburg Baltic shipyard and started preparations for her maiden voyage to Murmansk. The new ship showed superior characteristics for an icebreaker, such as exceptional maneuverability and a top speed of 21.4 knots (39.6 km/h).
She arrived at her homeport Murmansk on April 11, 2007.
The icebreaker is an upgrade of the Arktika-class, the most powerful icebreakers ever built. The 159.60 m (524 ft) long and 20.0 m (66 ft) wide vessel, with a displacement of 25840 metric tons, is designed to break through ice up to 2.8 meters thick. She has a 140-man crew.[1][3][4][5][6][7]
Fiftieth Anniversary of Victory is also an experimental project; for the first time in history of the Russian icebreakers it used a spoon-shaped bow. As predicted by the ship's designers, such a shape increases the efficiency of the ship's efforts in breaking the ice. The icebreaker is equipped with an all-new digital automated control system. The biological shielding complex was heavily modernized and re-certified by the State Commission. A new ecological compartment was created.
The ship has an athletic/exercise facility, a swimming pool, a library, a restaurant, a massage facility, and a music salon at the crew's disposal.
A group of eclipse chasers has used the vessel to observe the eclipse of August 1, 2008. They departed from Murmansk on July 21, 2008 and reached the North Pole on July 25, 2008, which sets a speed record for the ship (the trip lasted 4 days instead of 7).[8][9]
References
- ^ a b c "Russian Registry of Ships". http://www.rs-head.spb.ru/en/regbook/file_shipa/jdbc/fleet/reg_book/controller_reg_book?index=895826&type=book1&language=eng. Retrieved 2010-09-22.
- ^ "World's largest icebreaker," Ships Monthly. May 2007.
- ^ Anastasia Yakonuk (February 26, 2007). "A ship called ’Fifty years after the victory’". Sveriges Radio. http://sr.se/cgi-bin/euroarctic/amnessida.asp?programID=2460&Nyheter=0&grupp=2604&artikel=1219680. Retrieved 2007-03-08.
- ^ "Russia tests nuclear icebreaker on open sea". RIA Novosti. 16:51 31/01/2007. http://en.rian.ru/russia/20070131/59989100.html. Retrieved 2007-02-02.
- ^ "Titans of the Upper Latitudes". Aeroflot in-flight magazine. 2006 #1. http://www.aeroflot.ru/eng/service.asp?ob_no=4912&d_no=4914. Retrieved 2007-01-31.[dead link]
- ^ "Russia to get new nuclear-powered icebreaker this year". Bellona.org. 01/03-2006. http://www.bellona.org/news/Russia_to_get_new_nuclear-powered_icebreaker_this_year. Retrieved 2007-02-02.[dead link]
- ^ "Quark Expeditions fleet information". Quark Expeditions. 2008-03-17. http://www.quarkexpeditions.com/our-fleet/50-years. Retrieved 2008-06-25.
- ^ Franz Josef Land & Eclipse viewing off Novaya Zemlya On Board the Icebreaker: "50 years of victory", TravelQuest International
- ^ Nuclear-power icebreaker offers first passenger cruise to North Pole, Professional Mariner journal of the maritime industry
External links
- 50 Years of Victory Ship Details from Quark Expeditions with detailed deck plans
- Video Of The Voyage To The North Pole
Newspaper DIE WELT: http://www.welt.de/die-welt/regionales/hamburg/article8997877/So-malerisch-ist-der-Nordpol.html
Categories:- Nuclear-powered icebreakers
- Icebreakers of Russia
- 1993 ships
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