Kapitan Zarubin icebreaker of the North-Western Basin Branch returned to the home port of Big Port St Petersburg on May 11, 2018 upon completion of its five-month-long work in the water area of the Sea of Azov.

During the 2017-2018 navigation, the Kapitan Zarubin icebreaker provided icebreaker support for over 800 vessels headed to the seaports of Azov, Yeisk, Rostov-on-Don and Taganrog.

The icebreakers’ key particulars allowed it to provide icebreaker support not only in the water area of the Sea of Azov, but also in the inland water areas. As an example, during its passage on the Volga River in Balakovo on April 22-23 in severe weather conditions the Kapitan Zarubin icebreaker freed the Engineer Nazarov tanker from ice captivity and prevented a disaster on the approaches toward the Saratov hydroelectric power station.

Due to crewmembers’ efficient actions the Engineer Nazarov tanker has been brought to open water and continued its voyage to the river port of Samara.

During the mooring in the seaport of Big Port St Petersburg, technical equipment and constructions of the icebreaker will be repaired. Upon completion of repairs the icebreaker will be presented to the Russian River Register for the certification and confirmation of classification documents according to the established procedure.

It is expected that after November 2018 the icebreaker will start implementing the set tasks to provide icebreaker support in the seaport of Big Port St Petersburg.

For reference:

The Kapitan Zarubin is the icebreaker of Project 1105 that was built on the Wartsila Shipyard (Finland, Helsinki).

The icebreaker was named in honor of experienced captain of river vessels Petr Pavlovich Zarubin, who had been awarded with the title “The Best Captain of the USSR River Fleet Ministry” several times.

The icebreaker’s key particulars: