The Project 22220 Arktika nuclear-powered icebreaker's construction deadlines have been delayed. It will not be completed in late 2017, Mustafa Kashka, First Deputy General Director and Chief Engineer of nuclear icebreaker fleet operator Rosatom, noted on Friday, December 16.

When asked about the icebreaker's completion schedule, Kashka replied that it would be pushed back until 2018.

"We can already see the vessel's superstructure, and many mechanisms have been installed. The reactor units have been assembled, and the electric propulsion engines are to be installed either in late December or early January," he said.

Atomflot top managers are expecting the Government to okay construction of two more icebreakers. The 2016-2017 and 2017-2018 winters will see a shortage of icebreakers for new missions, Kashka noted. Currently, two more icebreakers, the Sibir and the Ural, are under construction at the Baltic Shipyard in St. Petersburg.

"We are still thinking of launching construction of fourth and fifth icebreakers, but no decision has been made yet," Kashka added.

In August 2012, Atomflot and the Baltic Shipyard signed a 37 billion ruble contract for building a Project 22220 icebreaker. In May 2014, both companies signed another contract worth 84.4 billion for building two more Project 22220 icebreakers.

Each Project 22220 icebreaker has the following main specifications:

Length: 173.3 meters

Beam: 34 meters

Waterline draft: 10.5 meters

Minimum effective draft: 8.55 meters

Displacement: 33,540 metric tons