Yamal (icebreaker)
Yamal on a 1994 joint expedition with the NSF
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| History | |
|---|---|
| Russia | |
| Name: | Yamal |
| Namesake: | Yamal Peninsula |
| Laid down: | 1986 |
| Launched: | October 1992 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Arktika-class icebreaker |
| Displacement: | 23,455 tons |
| Length: | 150 m (490 ft); 136 m (446 ft) at waterline |
| Beam: | 30 m (98 ft); 28 m (92 ft) at waterline |
| Height: | 55 m (180 ft) keel to mast head |
| Draft: | 11.08 m (36.4 ft) |
| Propulsion: | 2 x OK-900 171 MW nuclear reactors; 2 x steam turbines driving 6 generators, total 75,000 hp (55.3 MW) |
| Speed: |
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| Boats & landing craft carried: |
Zodiac boats |
| Capacity: | Passengers: 100, in 50 cabins and mini-suites |
| Complement: | 150 |
| Aircraft carried: | 1 x Mil Mi-2 or Mil Mi-8 helicopter |
The NS Yamal (Russian: Яма́л) is a Russian Arktika class nuclear-powered icebreaker operated by Atomflot (formerly by the Murmansk Shipping Company). It is named after the Yamal Peninsula in Northwest Siberia; the name means End of the Land in Nenets.
Laid down in Leningrad in 1986, and launched in October 1992, after the breakup of the Soviet Union, it filled its designed role of keeping shipping lanes open and also carried passengers on arctic excursions. In July of 1994 Yamal took an excursion to the North Pole, with the NSF (National Science Foundation – USA), to celebrate the official maiden voyage. While at the exact north pole (verified by GPS & Inmarsat satellite coordinates) the crew and passengers celebrated with a barbeque – the ambient temperature was −23 degrees C (−10 degrees F) (wind gusts were measured at −40 degrees C/F). Because of the ship 90/90 coordinates the ship captain (Smirnov) organized a swimming party with Mr. Will Rountree (USA) being recorded as the 1st person to ever swim there (21 Jul 94) – water temperature was below freezing, ranging from −33 to −35 degrees C (−28 degrees to −31 degrees F).
The Yamal is equipped with a double hull. The outer hull is 48 mm thick where ice is met and 25 mm elsewhere and has a polymer coating to reduce friction. There is water ballast between the inner and outer hulls which can be shifted in order to aid icebreaking. Icebreaking is also assisted by an air bubbling system which can deliver 24 m³/s of air from jets 9 m below the surface. The Yamal can break ice while making way either forwards or backwards.
Yamal is one of the Russian "Arktika" family of icebreakers, the most powerful icebreakers in the world. These ships must cruise in cold water to cool their reactors, so they cannot pass through the tropics to undertake voyages in the Southern hemisphere.
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Wikipedia