The icebreaker Novorossiysk has just returned from its first Arctic voyage to the port of Murmansk, TASS news agency reports, citing the Murmansk seaport press office. Crews have begun loading the ship in preparation for a new voyage.

"During its first Arctic voyage that lasted a bit longer than a week, the icebreaker delivered more than 160 tons of cargo to the island of Alexandra Land," the report said.

Also, the Novorossiysk successfully piloted the passenger ship Klavdia Yelanskaya with 200 passengers onboard through the ice on its way to Alexandra Land.

Another 187-ton load, mainly building materials and floating power plant units, will be dispatched to Alexandra Land on Saturday, February 11. The icebreaker will also pilot the tanker Varzuga to Franz Josef Land.

According to Rosmorport, in late February, the Novorossiysk will begin sailing the White Sea, performing ice-routing services to large vessels between the ports of Arkhangelsk and Kandalaksha.

According to TASS, the Novorossiysk is a Project 21900M icebreaker built for the Federal Agency of Sea and Inland Water Transport at Vyborg Shipyard in cooperation with Finland's Arctech Helsinki Shipyard. The acceptance act was signed on December 26, 2016 in a ceremony in St. Petersburg. Two diesel-electric icebreakers of this series, the Vladivostok and the Murmansk, are already operating in the Baltic Sea and in the Arctic basin. The Novorossiysk will also be used in the Baltic Sea in the winter and in the Arctic seas in the summer and fall.