Kerch Strait (icebreaker)

2025: Transfer to Marine Rescue Service

In December 2025, the Kerch Strait icebreaker replenished the fleet of the Primorsky branch of the Federal State Budgetary Institution Morspassvyachba. The vessel is designed for emergency rescue duty in the water area of ​ ​ the Northern Sea Route.

According to "Sea News of Russia," the multifunctional emergency rescue vessel (IFASS) "Kerch Strait" of the project MPSV06 built within the framework of the national program "Effective Transport System." It will carry out tasks of patrolling, emergency and rescue duty, search and assistance to ships, including the evacuation of people.

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Фото: morvesti.ru

The vessel belongs to a reinforced ice class Icebreaker6 an unlimited navigation area. Its design features include an icebreaker bow (stem), a cruiser stern, an elongated two-tier superstructure at the bow. The power plant (with a capacity of 7 MW) is diesel-electric, with two full-turn propeller-steering columns and bow thrusters for increased maneuverability.

According to the "Sea News of Russia," the lead vessel of the MPSV06 project was laid down at the Amur Shipyard in 2010 under the name "Rescuer Peter Georgian." The construction was suspended due to litigation with the German shipyard group Nordic Yards, after which the funds under the contract were returned to the Russian budget.

In 2018, it was decided to resume construction, rename the vessel to the Kerch Strait and appoint the United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC) as the sole executor of the project.

In October 2024, the ship "Kerch Strait" was transferred to the construction base of the ASZ in Vladivostok. Mooring tests began in the summer of 2025, and sea trials started in the fall of 2025.^[1][2]

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