Sevmorput
Encyclopedia
Sevmorput (Севморпуть) is a Russia
n nuclear-powered
icebreaking
LASH carrier
and container ship
. Delivered in 1988 and named after the Northern Sea Route
, she is the last of only four nuclear-powered cargo ship
s ever built and the only one still operating on nuclear power.
of the Soviet Union
, No C-13/01360, which was signed on 30 May 1978. Following the development of heavy industry
in the northern parts of the country, particularly around Norilsk
, a reliable transportation method was needed to guarantee year-round shipments of cargo and supplies to and from the northern communities. Experiences from the nuclear icebreakers operating on the Northern Sea Route since the mid-1950s had shown the advantages of nuclear marine propulsion
in the ice-infested waters of the Russian Arctic. Thus a decision was made to construct a new icebreaking LASH carrier, capable of serving high-volume shallow ports, that was powered by a nuclear reactor. The ship was designed by the Baltsudoproect Central Design Bureau.
The keel of the Sevmorput was laid on 1 June 1982 at Zaliv shipyard
in Kerch
, Ukraine
, which back then was part of the Soviet Union. She was launched on 20 February 1986 and delivered to state-owned Murmansk Shipping Company on 31 December 1988. After leaving the shipyard the Sevmorput sailed without nuclear power through the Mediterranean and around Africa until finally reaching the Soviet Far East.
The overall price of the nuclear-powered cargo ship was reported to be around US$265 million.
, Vostochny
, Magadan
and Vladivostok
refused to accept the two-month-old ship into their ports due to popular protests. In addition the harbour workers also refused to load or unload any cargo or provide any port services due to fears of radiation leakage. This was caused by uncertainty about the safety of the ship's nuclear propulsion system and the shadow of the Chernobyl disaster
only few years earlier. The local newspapers had also reported a four-minute emergency onboard the nuclear icebreaker Rossiya only a week before the arrival of the Sevmorput. The ship was finally allowed to dock at Vladivostok on 13 March 1989.
The initial plan was to utilize the Sevmorput in international transport, and the Soviet government applied for a permission to have the ship make several stops in Vancouver
, Canada
, in March 1990. However, the permission was denied because the evacuation and emergency response measures of the city were not deemed adequate in case of an accident involving the ship's nuclear reactor. Later the ship was mainly used on the Murmansk-Dudinka
route, but also made several trips to Vietnam
in the early 1990s. The daily operating expenses of the Sevmorput were reportedly around US$90,000 and she was not expected to make profit during the first two years of her career.
In the late 1990s the Sevmorput was laid up in Murmansk due to delays in the refueling of her reactor. The refueling finally took place in 2001 and later the ship resumed service on the Dudinka route.
In August 2007 it was reported that the Sevmorput would be converted into the world's first nuclear-powered drillship
due to lack of demand for cargo operators for lighters and the need of specialized drilling vessels in the Russian Arctic. The conversion at the Zvezdochka plant in Severodvinsk
were to take only 18 months. However, the renovation project was revoked in February 2008.
The management of the Russian nuclear-powered icebreaker fleet was transferred from MSCO to Rosatom in 2008. In October 2009 the general director of Atomflot announced that the Sevmorput could remain in service for 15 years.
, the ship draws 11.8 metres (38.7 ft) of water. However, in ice-infested waters she operates with a slightly smaller draught of 10.65 metres (34.9 ft) to improve the icebreaking characteristics of her raked stem. The gross tonnage
of the Sevmorput is 38,226 and net tonnage
11,468. The ship's deadweight tonnage
is 33,980 tons at maximum draught and 26,480 tons while operating at reduced draught in ice. Her maximum displacement is 61,880 tons.
Although originally designed according to the USSR Register of Shipping rules of 1981 to the highest Soviet ice class
available for merchant ships, ULA, the Sevmorput is currently classified by the Russian Maritime Register of Shipping
with a slightly lower ice class, UL. In addition to the national rules she was built according to the latest international regulations and conventions at the time, becoming the first ship built according to the Code of Safety for Nuclear Merchant Ships adopted by the International Maritime Organization
in 1981. Special attention was paid to the safety aspects of the vessel and, in addition to running aground or colliding with the reinforced bow of an icebreaker, the Soviet naval architects even took into account the possibility of a passenger aircraft crashing on the Sevmorput.
citing communication with Murmansk Shipping Company. (Diakov, Anatoli C. et al.) enriched uranium in uranium-zirconium alloy and has required refueling only once. The nuclear power plant onboard the vessel produces 215 tons of steam per hour at a pressure level of 40 atm (4,053,000 Pa) and temperature of 290 °C (554 °F). In case of emergency steam can also be produced by a diesel-powered boiler (50 t/h, 2,450 kPa, 360 °C).
Unlike the Russian Arktika
and Taymyr class nuclear icebreakers, which have three fixed-pitch propellers and utilize nuclear-turbo-electric powertrain, the Sevmorput is propelled by a single 4-bladed ducted
controllable-pitch propeller mechanically coupled to a steam turbine
. The GTZA 684 OM5 steam turbine has a maximum output of 29420 kW and turns the 6.7 metres (22 ft) propeller at 115 rpm. At full power the propulsion system gives the ship a maximum speed of 20.8 knots (11.3 m/s) at a draught of 10 metres (32.8 ft). She can also maintain a speed of 2 knots (1.1 m/s) in 1 metres (3.3 ft) thick level ice.
For electricity production the Sevmorput has three 1,700 kW turbogenerators and three 2,000 kW standby diesel generators. In addition in case of blackout
the vessel also has two 200 kW emergency diesel generators.
The Sevmorput can carry 74 lighters
, each with a cargo capacity of 300 tons, in six holds and in two layers on the stern deck. The cargo hold hatches are designed for lighters with a total weight of 450 tons. The lighters are loaded and unloaded with a large gantry crane
, manufactured by KONE
, with a span of 21.3 metres (69.9 ft) and lifting capacity of 500 tons. The gantry crane has two three-ton auxiliary cranes.
When not carrying lighters, the Sevmorput can carry both 20- and 40-foot containers weighing up to 20.3 and 30.5 tons, respectively, in three layers. The total container capacity of the ship is . While loading and unloading are usually done by shore-based cranes, a small number of containers can be handled with two container attachments to the gantry crane in ports that do not have cranes capable of handling containers. The lifting capacity of the attachments is 38 tons.
In addition the vessel has two 16-ton and two 3.2-ton cranes.
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n nuclear-powered
Nuclear marine propulsion
Nuclear marine propulsion is propulsion of a ship by a nuclear reactor. Naval nuclear propulsion is propulsion that specifically refers to naval warships...
icebreaking
Icebreaker
An icebreaker is a special-purpose ship or boat designed to move and navigate through ice-covered waters. Although the term usually refers to ice-breaking ships, it may also refer to smaller vessels .For a ship to be considered an icebreaker, it requires three traits most...
LASH carrier
Lighter Aboard Ship
The lighter aboard ship system refers to the practice of loading barges aboard a larger vessel for transport. It was developed in response to a need to transport lighters, a type of unpowered barge, between inland waterways separated by open seas...
and container ship
Container ship
Container ships are cargo ships that carry all of their load in truck-size intermodal containers, in a technique called containerization. They form a common means of commercial intermodal freight transport.-History:...
. Delivered in 1988 and named after the Northern Sea Route
Northern Sea Route
The Northern Sea Route is a shipping lane officially defined by Russian legislation from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean specifically running along the Russian Arctic coast from Murmansk on the Barents Sea, along Siberia, to the Bering Strait and Far East. The entire route lies in Arctic...
, she is the last of only four nuclear-powered cargo ship
Cargo ship
A cargo ship or freighter is any sort of ship or vessel that carries cargo, goods, and materials from one port to another. Thousands of cargo carriers ply the world's seas and oceans each year; they handle the bulk of international trade...
s ever built and the only one still operating on nuclear power.
Development and construction
The history of the Sevmorput dates back to a joint decision by the Ministry of the Merchant Marine (MORFLOT) and the Ministry of Shipbuilding IndustryMinistry of Shipbuilding Industry
People's Commissariat of the Shipbuilding Industry of the USSR - one of the central offices in the Soviet Union, the equivalent of the Ministry, which oversaw the production of shipbuilding....
of the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, No C-13/01360, which was signed on 30 May 1978. Following the development of heavy industry
Heavy industry
Heavy industry does not have a single fixed meaning as compared to light industry. It can mean production of products which are either heavy in weight or in the processes leading to their production. In general, it is a popular term used within the name of many Japanese and Korean firms, meaning...
in the northern parts of the country, particularly around Norilsk
Norilsk
Norilsk is an industrial city in Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia, located between the Yenisei River and the Taymyr Peninsula. Population: It was granted city status in 1953. It is the northernmost city in Siberia and the world's second largest city north of the Arctic Circle...
, a reliable transportation method was needed to guarantee year-round shipments of cargo and supplies to and from the northern communities. Experiences from the nuclear icebreakers operating on the Northern Sea Route since the mid-1950s had shown the advantages of nuclear marine propulsion
Nuclear marine propulsion
Nuclear marine propulsion is propulsion of a ship by a nuclear reactor. Naval nuclear propulsion is propulsion that specifically refers to naval warships...
in the ice-infested waters of the Russian Arctic. Thus a decision was made to construct a new icebreaking LASH carrier, capable of serving high-volume shallow ports, that was powered by a nuclear reactor. The ship was designed by the Baltsudoproect Central Design Bureau.
The keel of the Sevmorput was laid on 1 June 1982 at Zaliv shipyard
Zaliv Shipbuilding yard
The Zaliv Shipbuilding yard is located in Kerch, Ukraine and specializes in the construction of tankers and container carriers, and the repair of ships of different types and tonnage...
in Kerch
Kerch
Kerch is a city on the Kerch Peninsula of eastern Crimea, an important industrial, transport and tourist centre of Ukraine. Kerch, founded 2600 years ago, is considered as one of the most ancient cities in Ukraine.-Ancient times:...
, Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
, which back then was part of the Soviet Union. She was launched on 20 February 1986 and delivered to state-owned Murmansk Shipping Company on 31 December 1988. After leaving the shipyard the Sevmorput sailed without nuclear power through the Mediterranean and around Africa until finally reaching the Soviet Far East.
The overall price of the nuclear-powered cargo ship was reported to be around US$265 million.
Career
After entering service the Sevmorput was denied entry to four major ports in the Soviet Far East. Authorities in NakhodkaNakhodka
Nakhodka is a port city in Primorsky Krai, Russia, situated on the Trudny Peninsula jutting into the Nakhodka Bay of the Sea of Japan, about east of Vladivostok...
, Vostochny
Vostochny
Vostochny Port is intermodal container port at the Eastern end of the Trans-Siberian Railway, the largest port in the Russian Far East. It is located in Vrangel , Primorsky Krai. A deep-water port on the Nakhodka Bay , it operates year round and is suitable for handling large tonnage ships...
, Magadan
Magadan
Magadan is a port town on the Sea of Okhotsk and gateway to the Kolyma region. It is the administrative center of Magadan Oblast , in the Russian Far East. Founded in 1929 on the site of an earlier settlement from the 1920s, it was granted the status of town in 1939...
and Vladivostok
Vladivostok
The city is located in the southern extremity of Muravyov-Amursky Peninsula, which is about 30 km long and approximately 12 km wide.The highest point is Mount Kholodilnik, the height of which is 257 m...
refused to accept the two-month-old ship into their ports due to popular protests. In addition the harbour workers also refused to load or unload any cargo or provide any port services due to fears of radiation leakage. This was caused by uncertainty about the safety of the ship's nuclear propulsion system and the shadow of the Chernobyl disaster
Chernobyl disaster
The Chernobyl disaster was a nuclear accident that occurred on 26 April 1986 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine , which was under the direct jurisdiction of the central authorities in Moscow...
only few years earlier. The local newspapers had also reported a four-minute emergency onboard the nuclear icebreaker Rossiya only a week before the arrival of the Sevmorput. The ship was finally allowed to dock at Vladivostok on 13 March 1989.
The initial plan was to utilize the Sevmorput in international transport, and the Soviet government applied for a permission to have the ship make several stops in Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, in March 1990. However, the permission was denied because the evacuation and emergency response measures of the city were not deemed adequate in case of an accident involving the ship's nuclear reactor. Later the ship was mainly used on the Murmansk-Dudinka
Dudinka
Dudinka is a town and the administrative center of Taymyrsky Dolgano-Nenetsky District of Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia. It was the administrative center of Taymyr Autonomous Okrug, which was merged into Krasnoyarsk Krai on January 1, 2007. It is a port in the lower reaches of the Yenisei River,...
route, but also made several trips to Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
in the early 1990s. The daily operating expenses of the Sevmorput were reportedly around US$90,000 and she was not expected to make profit during the first two years of her career.
In the late 1990s the Sevmorput was laid up in Murmansk due to delays in the refueling of her reactor. The refueling finally took place in 2001 and later the ship resumed service on the Dudinka route.
In August 2007 it was reported that the Sevmorput would be converted into the world's first nuclear-powered drillship
Drillship
A drillship is a maritime vessel that has been fitted with drilling apparatus. It is most often used for exploratory offshore drilling of new oil or gas wells in deep water or for scientific drilling. The drillship can also be used as a platform to carry out well maintenance or completion work such...
due to lack of demand for cargo operators for lighters and the need of specialized drilling vessels in the Russian Arctic. The conversion at the Zvezdochka plant in Severodvinsk
Severodvinsk
Severodvinsk is a city in the north of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia, located in the delta of the Northern Dvina River, west of Arkhangelsk. Administratively, it is incorporated as a town of oblast significance . Municipally, it is incorporated as Severodvinsk Urban Okrug. The city was founded as...
were to take only 18 months. However, the renovation project was revoked in February 2008.
The management of the Russian nuclear-powered icebreaker fleet was transferred from MSCO to Rosatom in 2008. In October 2009 the general director of Atomflot announced that the Sevmorput could remain in service for 15 years.
General characteristics
The Sevmorput is 260.3 metres (854 ft) long overall and 236.6 metres (776.2 ft) between perpendiculars. The breadth and depth of her hull are 32.2 metres (105.6 ft) and 18.3 metres (60 ft), respectively. When loaded to the summer waterlineWaterline
The term "waterline" generally refers to the line where the hull of a ship meets the water surface. It is also the name of a special marking, also known as the national Load Line or Plimsoll Line, to be positioned amidships, that indicates the draft of the ship and the legal limit to which a ship...
, the ship draws 11.8 metres (38.7 ft) of water. However, in ice-infested waters she operates with a slightly smaller draught of 10.65 metres (34.9 ft) to improve the icebreaking characteristics of her raked stem. The gross tonnage
Gross tonnage
Gross tonnage is a unitless index related to a ship's overall internal volume. Gross tonnage is different from gross register tonnage...
of the Sevmorput is 38,226 and net tonnage
Net tonnage
Net tonnage is a dimensionless index calculated from the total moulded volume of the ship's cargo spaces by using a mathematical formula...
11,468. The ship's deadweight tonnage
Deadweight tonnage
Deadweight tonnage is a measure of how much weight a ship is carrying or can safely carry. It is the sum of the weights of cargo, fuel, fresh water, ballast water, provisions, passengers, and crew...
is 33,980 tons at maximum draught and 26,480 tons while operating at reduced draught in ice. Her maximum displacement is 61,880 tons.
Although originally designed according to the USSR Register of Shipping rules of 1981 to the highest Soviet ice class
Ice class
Ships with an Ice Class have a strengthened hull to enable them to navigate through sea ice.-History:The first requirements for merchant ships to be escorted by icebreakers were set in Finland in 1890, after winter traffic to the port of Hanko was started. In the past, different classification...
available for merchant ships, ULA, the Sevmorput is currently classified by the Russian Maritime Register of Shipping
Russian Maritime Register of Shipping
The activities of Russian Maritime Register of Shipping are aimed at providing the safety of navigation, safety of life at sea, security of ships, safe carriage of cargo, environmental safety of ships, prevention of pollution from ships, performance of authorisations issued by Administrations and...
with a slightly lower ice class, UL. In addition to the national rules she was built according to the latest international regulations and conventions at the time, becoming the first ship built according to the Code of Safety for Nuclear Merchant Ships adopted by the International Maritime Organization
International Maritime Organization
The International Maritime Organization , formerly known as the Inter-Governmental Maritime Consultative Organization , was established in Geneva in 1948, and came into force ten years later, meeting for the first time in 1959...
in 1981. Special attention was paid to the safety aspects of the vessel and, in addition to running aground or colliding with the reinforced bow of an icebreaker, the Soviet naval architects even took into account the possibility of a passenger aircraft crashing on the Sevmorput.
Power and propulsion
The Sevmorput is powered by a single KLT-40 nuclear fission reactor with a thermal output of 135 megawatts. The reactor core contains 150.7 kilograms (332.2 lb) of 30–40- or 90-percent90 % according to information provided to Norwegian government in 1990, 30–40 % according to Bellona FoundationBellona Foundation
The Bellona Foundation is a multi-disciplinary international environmental NGO based in Oslo, Norway. Founded in 1986 by Frederic Hauge and Rune Haaland as a direct action protest group, it has since blossomed into a recognized technology and solution-oriented environmental champion with offices on...
citing communication with Murmansk Shipping Company. (Diakov, Anatoli C. et al.) enriched uranium in uranium-zirconium alloy and has required refueling only once. The nuclear power plant onboard the vessel produces 215 tons of steam per hour at a pressure level of 40 atm (4,053,000 Pa) and temperature of 290 °C (554 °F). In case of emergency steam can also be produced by a diesel-powered boiler (50 t/h, 2,450 kPa, 360 °C).
Unlike the Russian Arktika
Arktika class icebreaker
The Arktika class is a Russian class of nuclear powered icebreakers. They are owned by the federal government, but were operated by the Murmansk Shipping Company until 2008, when they were transferred to the fully government-owned operator Atomflot. Of the ten civilian nuclear powered vessels...
and Taymyr class nuclear icebreakers, which have three fixed-pitch propellers and utilize nuclear-turbo-electric powertrain, the Sevmorput is propelled by a single 4-bladed ducted
Ducted propeller
A ducted propeller is a propeller fitted with a non-rotating nozzle. It is used to improve the efficiency of the propeller and are especially used on heavily loaded propellers or propellers with limited diameter. It was developed by Luigi Stipa and Ludwig Kort .Advantages are increased efficiency,...
controllable-pitch propeller mechanically coupled to a steam turbine
Steam turbine
A steam turbine is a mechanical device that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam, and converts it into rotary motion. Its modern manifestation was invented by Sir Charles Parsons in 1884....
. The GTZA 684 OM5 steam turbine has a maximum output of 29420 kW and turns the 6.7 metres (22 ft) propeller at 115 rpm. At full power the propulsion system gives the ship a maximum speed of 20.8 knots (11.3 m/s) at a draught of 10 metres (32.8 ft). She can also maintain a speed of 2 knots (1.1 m/s) in 1 metres (3.3 ft) thick level ice.
For electricity production the Sevmorput has three 1,700 kW turbogenerators and three 2,000 kW standby diesel generators. In addition in case of blackout
Power outage
A power outage is a short- or long-term loss of the electric power to an area.There are many causes of power failures in an electricity network...
the vessel also has two 200 kW emergency diesel generators.
Cargo capacity and handling
The Sevmorput can carry 74 lighters
Lighter (barge)
A lighter is a type of flat-bottomed barge used to transfer goods and passengers to and from moored ships. Lighters were traditionally unpowered and were moved and steered using long oars called "sweeps," with their motive power provided by water currents...
, each with a cargo capacity of 300 tons, in six holds and in two layers on the stern deck. The cargo hold hatches are designed for lighters with a total weight of 450 tons. The lighters are loaded and unloaded with a large gantry crane
Gantry crane
Gantry cranes, bridge cranes, and overhead cranes, are all types of cranes which lift objects by a hoist which is fitted in a hoist trolley and can move horizontally on a rail or pair of rails fitted under a beam...
, manufactured by KONE
KONE
Kone Oyj , founded in 1910 and headquartered in Espoo, Finland, is an international engineering and service company employing some 32,500 personnel worldwide. The firm is the fourth largest manufacturer of elevators worldwide, a leading manufacturer of escalators, and also provides maintenance...
, with a span of 21.3 metres (69.9 ft) and lifting capacity of 500 tons. The gantry crane has two three-ton auxiliary cranes.
When not carrying lighters, the Sevmorput can carry both 20- and 40-foot containers weighing up to 20.3 and 30.5 tons, respectively, in three layers. The total container capacity of the ship is . While loading and unloading are usually done by shore-based cranes, a small number of containers can be handled with two container attachments to the gantry crane in ports that do not have cranes capable of handling containers. The lifting capacity of the attachments is 38 tons.
In addition the vessel has two 16-ton and two 3.2-ton cranes.
See also
- Nuclear-powered icebreaker
- NS MutsuMutsu (ship)Mutsu was Japan's first, and only nuclear-powered ship. It was built as a nuclear merchant ship, one of four such vessels ever constructed, but never carried commercial cargo.-Nuclear propulsion tests:...
- NS SavannahNS SavannahNS Savannah, named for SS Savannah, was the first nuclear-powered cargo-passenger ship, built in the late 1950s at a cost of $46.9 million, including a $28.3 million nuclear reactor and fuel core, funded by United States government agencies as a demonstration project for the potential...
- NS Otto Hahn