NS 50 Years Since Victory

NS "50 Years Since Victory" or "50 Years Anniversary of Victory" ( _ru. 50 лет Победы, transliterated as "50 Let Pobedy") is a Russian Arktika class nuclear powered icebreaker, the largest in the world as of 2007. [ [http://www.shipsmonthly.com/auto/newsdesk/20070403154825ships.html "World's largest icebreaker,"] "Ships Monthly." May 2007.]

Construction on project no. 10521 started on October 4, 1989 at the Baltic Works in Leningrad (currently Saint Petersburg), USSR. Originally the ship was named NS "Ural". Work was halted in 1994 for lack of funds, so that the real 50 Years Anniversary of Victory Day in 1995 found the ship in an abandoned state. Construction was restarted in 2003.

On 30 November 2004, a fire broke out in ship. All workers aboard the vessel had to be evacuated while the fire crews battled the fire for some 20 hours before getting it under control. One worker was sent to hospital. There was no threat of radioactive contamination as the nuclear reactor had no fuel inside.

She was finally completed in the beginning of 2007, after the 60th Anniversary. The icebreaker sailed into the Gulf of Finland for two weeks of sea trials on February 1, 2007.

Upon completing sea trials, the icebreaker returned to St-Petersburg Baltic shipyard and started preparations for her maiden voyage to Murmansk. The new ship showed superior characteristics for an icebreaker, such as exceptional maneuverability and a top speed of convert|21.4|kn|km/h.

She arrived at her homeport Murmansk on April 11, 2007.

The icebreaker is an upgrade of the Arktika-class, the most powerful icebreakers ever built. The convert|159.60|m|ft|0|abbr=on long and convert|20.0|m|ft|0|abbr=on wide vessel, with a displacement of 25840 metric tons, is designed to break through ice up to 2.8 meters thick. It has a 140-man crew. [cite web|url=http://sr.se/cgi-bin/euroarctic/amnessida.asp?programID=2460&Nyheter=0&grupp=2604&artikel=1219680|title=A ship called ’Fifty years after the victory’|author=Anastasia Yakonuk|publisher=Sveriges Radio|date=February 26, 2007|accessdate=2007-03-08] [cite web|url=http://en.rian.ru/russia/20070131/59989100.html|title=Russia tests nuclear icebreaker on open sea|publisher=RIA Novosti|date=16:51 31/01/2007|accessdate=2007-02-02] [cite web|url=http://www.aeroflot.ru/eng/service.asp?ob_no=4912&d_no=4914|title=Titans of the Upper Latitudes|publisher=Aeroflot in-flight magazine|date=2006 #1|accessdate=2007-01-31] [cite web|url=http://www.bellona.org/news/Russia_to_get_new_nuclear-powered_icebreaker_this_year|title=Russia to get new nuclear-powered icebreaker this year|publisher=Bellona.org|date=01/03-2006|accessdate=2007-02-02] [cite web|url=http://www.rs-head.spb.ru/regbook/cd_eng/file_shipa/89/895826_e.htm|title=Russian Registry of Ships|date=2007-03-12|accessdate=2008-06-25] [cite web|url=http://www.quarkexpeditions.com/our-fleet/50-years|title=Quark Expeditions fleet information|publisher=Quark Expeditions|date=2008-03-17|accessdate=2008-06-25]

"50 Years Since Victory" is also an experimental project; for the first time in history of the Russian icebreakers it used a spoon-shaped bow. As predicted by the ship's designers, such a shape will increase the efficiency of breaking the ice. The icebreaker is equipped with an all-new digital automated control system. The biological shielding complex was heavily modernized and re-certified by the State Commission. A new ecological compartment was created.

The ship has a sporting room, a swimming pool, a library, a restaurant, a massage facility, and a music salon at the crew's disposal.

A group of eclipse chasers has used the vessel to observe the eclipse of August 1, 2008. They departed from Murmansk on July 21, 2008 and reached the North Pole on July 25, 2008, which sets a speed record for the ship (the trip lasted 4 days instead of 7). [http://www.tq-international.com/NorthPole2008/NPhome.htm Franz Josef Land & Eclipse viewing off Novaya Zemlya On Board the Icebreaker: "50 years of victory"] , TravelQuest International] [ [http://professionalmariner.com/ME2/dirmod.asp?sid=&nm=&type=news&mod=News&mid=9A02E3B96F2A415ABC72CB5F516B4C10&tier=3&nid=004B80531AE049CC892116AF14B94D17 Nuclear-power icebreaker offers first passenger cruise to North Pole] , Professional Mariner journal of the maritime industry]

References

External links

* [http://www.getwonder.com/2008/03/to-the-north-polerussian-nuclear-icebreakers/ To the North Pole:Russian Nuclear Icebreakers]