The "North Pole" Floats!
This past October I penned a short article about the rebirth of the fishing fleets of Russia. I guess a year living on Sakhalin will tend to focus awareness on the briny deep and vessels that swim on it. Now that I’m back in the western one-third of Russia the views on the Russian fleet also change a little. Here the focus is not so much on fishing but on the vast opportunities of the Arctic and the fast-growing North Sea route between Europe and Asia.
One of the priorities of Russia at this time is to upgrade and expand their historic and decades-long commitment to studying the home waters of the Arctic, both from the standpoints of fundamental research as well as commercial and extractive uses.
The first of what may be several “flagship” efforts have recently been completed and handed over on December 20th, 2020. It is aptly named the “North Pole” and should be in deployed service by the end of this year, or at least by the start of 2022. To say that the “North Pole” is pug-ugly is to be kind, as one seagoing engineer noted, “you’ll not take her out dancing or on a date, but she’s a clean, stout, hard-assed marriage candidate”.
This sexy vessel is the ice-resistant self-propelled platform (IRSPP) ?North Pole? which is designed for long-term scientific research in the high latitudes of the Arctic Ocean.
The “North Pole” is unique in several respects aside from its ice-resistant capabilities and comfy-cozy heated interior. It can be fuel and supplies self-sustaining for up to two years. The hull strength, which is an important consideration given the ice environment has been engineered for no less than a quarter-century of full service. The normal complement is 13 crew and 38 scientists but can grow to 46 scientists in a pinch.
For those of us that enjoy technical specifications, the self-propelled platform (IRSPP) is length - 83.1 m; width - 22.5 m; displacement - about 10,390 tons; power plant - 4200 kW; speed - at least 10 knots; hull strength – Arc8.
The “North Pole” platform was ordered by Russia’s Federal Service for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring as an all-season scientific-research facility able to make geological, acoustic, geophysical, and oceanographic observations in the Arctic Ocean. It also has a helipad for МИ-8 АМТ (Ми-17) helicopters and affords safe, if not 5-star accommodations with ambient temperatures that can be comfortably adjusted as needed, even in a refreshingly brisk minus 50 or less Celsius.
Word has it that several such platforms may eventually be in service throughout the Russian Arctic regions, especially congruent to the Arctic North Sea Route by the end of this decade. One thing is for certain, the shipbuilding wharves in St.Petersburg such as the Admiralty wharf, and others throughout Russia’s northwest are fully booked and busily building all manner of vessels for years to come. This in and of itself comes as a boon to the Russian shipyards which have not seen their best days in these past thirty years. While Arctic ice-capable platform vessels like the “North Pole” will yield important scientific data from the vital Arctic Ocean, the building of LNG vessels and similar, designated to take advantage of the NSR are in high gear, without spin or loud fanfare. The volume growth on the NSR is newsworthy enough, linking Europe and Asia, and growing strongly even as we read about it.