Monday, August 31, 2009

The Russians Are Serious About Making A Presence In The Arctic

Launching of the icebreaker St Petersburg at the Baltiysky Zavod in May 2009

Russia Is Breaking Into The Arctic With New Ship Technology -- The Telegraph/Russia Now

An historic event could have been left unnoticed if it wasn’t for Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. The operational start of icebreaker St Petersburg has helped Russia increase its advantages in the fight for the Arctic’s hydrocarbon and raw mineral reserves.

Several years ago, if the Russian icebreaking fleet did not seem hopeless, the outlook was definitely bleak. Veterans of the Soviet “ice power” ships, Lenin and Siberia, were effectively obsolete; three more nuclear-powered icebreakers were ready to be discarded; the unfinished successor – the nuclear-powered 50 Years of Victory – had been rusting on the water since 1993.

In 2007, it moved to an operational stage and shipbuilders also began working on a new order – the construction of two diesel-electric icebreakers, Moscow and St Petersburg.

Read more ....

My Comment: This should be a wake up call for Canada, the U.S., the Danes, and the Norwegians.

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