The lead universal Project 22220 icebreaker Arktika left the Baltic Shipyard in St. Petersburg for Murmansk, on 22 September; the vessel is to undergo ice trials on the way, as was stated by Alexey Kadilov, CEO of the Baltic Shipyard, at the vessel's dispatch ceremony.

'I hope that in October we will finish construction by signing the acceptance certificate in Murmansk', Kadilov said.

To date, the nuclear-powered icebreaker Arktika has passed sea trials, after which, on 17 September, the vessel returned to the outfitting quay of the Baltic Shipyard in St. Petersburg, TASS reports.

Arktika was laid down on 5 November 2013 at the Baltic Shipyard docks and launched on 16 June 2016. The other two Project 22220 vessels, Sibir and Ural, will be commissioned by the Baltic Shipyard in 2021 and 2022. The contract for the construction of the fourth and fifth icebreakers under the project, Yakutia and Chukotka, was signed in August last year, the deadline for their delivery is 2024 and 2026.