OREANDA-NEWS. OJSC Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works ("MMK") is the key steel supplier in the construction of nuclear ice-breakers (Project 22220) at the Baltic Shipyard (part of United Shipbuilding Corporation). A 60MW universal nuclear ice-breaker known as 'Arctic' - Project 22220's leading ship - is currently under construction at the shipyard.

The ice-breaker is expected to be the largest and most powerful in the world. Its displacement will amount to up to 33.5 thousand tonnes, and it will reach speeds of up to 22 knots in open water. This new generation of ice-breaker will be equipped with two nuclear reactors, each with a thermal capacity of 175 MW. It will also be able to break ice of up to three meters thick, opening up the Northern Sea Route virtually all year round, and enabling the delivery of hydrocarbons from their northernmost deposits. The ice-breaker's sea trial is scheduled for 2017.

In May 2015, construction of Project 22220's first series-produced ice-breaker, 'Siberia,' began at the Baltic Shipyard. Construction of the world's largest multi-functional diesel-electric 25MW ice-breaker (Project 22600), named Victor Chernomyrdin, is also underway. MMK has provided steel for these ships as well.

Furthermore, work on a diesel-electric ice-breaker (Aker ARC 130 А) has commenced at the Vyborg Shipyard (also part of United Shipbuilding Corporation). MMK is among the key metal suppliers for this ship.

There are plans to commission another two ice-breakers in 2017. Both of these 22MW ships will be able to break ice of up to 2 meters thick and continuously operate at temperatures as low as -50 degrees Celsius. The ice-breakers will be operated at the Novoport deposit's Arctic terminal in the Yamal peninsula.

In 2011, United Shipbuilding Corporation and MMK signed a memorandum on strategic cooperation. The two companies agreed to develop their scientific and technological cooperation on existing and new shipbuilding products, as well as to streamline the supply chain for delivery of MMK metal to USP facilities.

MMK accounts for up to 50% of all metal supplies to the Russian shipbuilding industry. In 2014, MMK shipped 78,000 tonnes of metal to domestic ship builders, up 37.2% year-on-year. Shipbuilding steel, produced at Mill 5000, is certified by Lloyd's Register, Bureau Veritas of France, the American Bureau of Shipping, Det Norske Veritas in Norway and Germanischer Lloyd, as well as the Russian Maritime Register of Shipping and the Russian River Register.