New Russian nuclear-powered icebreaker tested without Finnish blessing
"50-let Pobedy" (Baltiiskii Zavod)
The Sankt Petersburg-based shipyard Baltiisky Zavod two weeks ago conducted testing operations of the new Russian icebreaker “50 year of Victory” in the Gulf of Finland. Now Finnish authorities express concern about the fact that they were not notified about the testing.
A bilateral Finnish-Russian agreement commits the Russians to notify the Finnish side about such testing.
The authorities in Finland were blissfully unaware of the testing, despite the existence of a 1996 agreement between the two nations, according to which any movement by a nuclear-powered vessel closer than 300 kilometres from the Finnish coast should be reported, Helsingin Sanomat reports.
The 159 meter long icebreaker is unique in its kind. The ship is built on the model of the “Arktika” icebreaker. It has a deadweight of 25,000 tons and a crew of 138 people. The construction of the “50 Years Victory” was started in 1989, but then halted until the late 1990s.
Post a comment
