The dock, known as NB 110, is intended for the repair of nuclear icebreakers and will be stationed at Atomflot’s base in Murmansk, Russia.
The dock is 220 meters long, 48 meters wide, and has a lifting capacity of 30,000 tons. It features a slipway deck at least 200 meters in length and can accommodate up to 30 people for up to seven days without needing to dock.
It is designed to primarily serve Rosatom’s new Project 22220 nuclear icebreakers. Currently, three vessels from this class are in operation, with four more expected to join the fleet in the coming years.
This dock was commissioned after Russian shipyards were unable to fulfill Rosatom’s requirements. The contract between Rosatom and Kuzey Star, signed in 2021, is valued at approximately $69 million. The dock’s delivery has been delayed beyond its original 29-month construction timeline.
Atomflot, which operates the base for Russia's nuclear icebreakers, currently has two floating docks: the PD-3 in Murmansk, which services the 50 Let Pobedy icebreaker, and the PD-0002, which services other nuclear icebreakers at the Atomflot base.
The new dock will allow for repairs that previously could only be conducted in St. Petersburg.
Kuzey Star Stands Out for Russian Icebreakers
In addition to the floating dock, Kuzey Star is also building two dual-fuel icebreakers for Rosmorport, another Russian state company. This contract, valued at 18.5 billion rubles (€179 million), was originally awarded to Russia's Onega shipyard but later subcontracted to Kuzey Star.
As Russia plans to complete its new Lider-class icebreaker, Rossiya, Atomflot may require an even larger dock in the future.