The Arktika, Atomflot’s lead universal nuclear icebreaker, has taken a convoy of three ships under escort in the western part of the Kara Sea.

On December 18, the world's most powerful nuclear icebreaker set off towards the eastern part of the Northern Sea Route for the first time.

The icebreaker is escorting three ships – Yury Arshenevsky, Polar King, and Inzhener Trubin – and a diesel icebreaker, Kapitan Dranitsyn. The ships are carrying cargo for companies implementing investment projects in the Chukotka Autonomous Area. The passage to the Chukotka port of Pevek is to take up to 20 days.

The LK-60Ya Arktika universal nuclear icebreaker is the lead ship of Project 22220, a series that also includes the Siberia, built at the Baltic Shipyard in St. Petersburg. The icebreakers Ural, Yakutia and Chukotka are still under construction.

The Project 22220 60 MW nuclear icebreakers are the largest and most powerful in the world. Russian needs such advanced vessels to ensure its leadership in the Arctic. The icebreaker’s hull is 173.3 meters long, and 34 meters wide, with a displacement of 33,500 tonnes.