Kuzey Star

History

2025: Russia terminated the contract for 32 billion rubles with Kuzey Star

Federal State Unitary Enterprise (FSUE) Rosmorport terminated the contract with the Turkish shipyard Kuzey Star for the construction of two Project 23620 icebreakers due to an increase in the cost of work almost twice. This was announced at the end of November 2025 by the head of the FSUE Sergey Pylin.

We are talking about Icebreaker 7 ice class vessels. The project of their construction is included in the Comprehensive Plan for the Modernization and Expansion of the Main Infrastructure (KPMI). The contract for the creation of icebreakers was concluded in 2021. Initially, it was assumed that the cost would be 18.5 billion rubles. However, after the redesign, the amount increased to 32 billion rubles.

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The contract price was 18.5 billion (rubles), after redesigning and selecting equipment, it almost doubled, to 32 billion (rubles). Therefore, it was decided that while we will not build the icebreakers of project 23620, we will use the tugs that we are building at the plant. Buds with an increased ice class, Arc6 said Pylin.

Project 23620 vessels will be able to pass ice up to 1.5 meters. Icebreakers are 95.6 meters long and 22.5 meters wide. The number of crew will be 22 people. In addition, there will be special personnel on board consisting of 12 employees.

It is emphasized that this is the first Russian project of icebreakers with an energy plant capable of operating on liquefied natural gas (LNG). The capacity is declared at the level of 12-14 MW. The use of environmentally friendly fuel will reduce emissions into the atmosphere of carbon dioxide by 20-30%, nitrogen oxides - by more than 90%, sulfur oxides and suspended solids - by 100% compared to ships on traditional heavy fuel. The new icebreakers will have an unlimited sailing area and will be able to operate year-round in the Baltic, White, Barents Seas and the seas of the Pacific Basin.^[1]

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