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The icebreaker race is on
The race for the Arctic has been going on for some time and now it will get much tougher for the Canadians as Russia announced plans to build three or four new nuclear-powered icebreakers over the next few years.
Russia is planning to built a nuclear-powered icebreaker fleet, to be added to the seven icebreakers that Russia already employs. According to the BarentsObserver, this means that Russia is planning to further develop the Northern Sear Route.
The heat is on for Canada now, who has six icebeakers in it's fleet. Plans were made in 2006 by Canada’s Prime Minister Stephen Harper, to build six to eight medium sized icebreakers to patrol the Northwest Passage. Opposition MPs at the time decried the proposed vessels as being too weak and light and would not be able to compete in the Arctic race. This might now prove true as the Canadian icebreakers would only be able to go through one metre of ice while the Russian icebreakers would be able to go through three metres thick ice.
The Canadian government also announced plans for a new civilian icebreaker, which is a heavy icebreaker to replace the almost 50 year old icebreaker CCGS Louis St. Laurent. But this completion of the ship was planned for 2017.
Meanwhile, other countries such as the US, Denmark and Norway also have capable icebreaking fleets.
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