The world's most powerful nuclear-powered icebreakers, currently in the pipeline in Russia (Project 22220), already have assignments, according to Rosatomflot Director General Vyacheslav Ruksha.

The project's three vessels, the flagship nuclear icebreaker Arktika, and two other serial icebreakers, the Sibir and the Ural, are under construction at the Baltic Shipyard in St. Petersburg.

"As a matter of fact, they have already been assigned, under contract," Ruksha said at the Nuclear Icebreaker Fleet and Arctic Exploration conference at the Kurchatov Institute.

Ruksha added that the icebreakers will be used primarily for the Arctic LNG-2 project. LNG-2 is Novatek's second LNG project after Yamal LNG. The launch is planned for 2022 to 2025. The natural gas fields on the Gydan Peninsula will supply the gas for the Arctic LNG-2 project.