NSF picture of Russian icebreaker Krasin on its way to McMurdo Sound, Antarctica
History
Russia
Name	Krasin
Namesake	Leonid Borisovich Krasin
Owner	Far East Shipping Company (FESCO)[2][3]
Port of registry	Vladivostok,  Russia[1]
Builder	Wärtsilä Helsinki Shipyard, Helsinki, Finland
Yard number	400[1]
Completed	28 April 1976[1]
Identification	Call sign: UIFY[1] IMO number: 7359644[1] MMSI number: 273143900[2]
Status	In service
General characteristics [1]
Type	Icebreaker
Tonnage	14,508 GT 4,217 NT 7,554 DWT
Displacement	20,247 tons
Length	134.84 m (442.4 ft) (overall)
Beam	25.97 m (85.2 ft) (moulded) 26.05 m (85.5 ft) (max)
Height	45.60 m (149.6 ft) from keel[3]
Draft	11.00 m (36.09 ft)
Depth	16.71 m (54.8 ft)
Ice class	LL2
Installed power	9 × Wärtsilä-Sulzer 12ZH40/48 (9 × 3,385 kW)
Propulsion	3 × Strömberg DC motors (3 × 8,820 kW) Three fixed pitch propellers
Speed	20.30 knots (37.60 km/h; 23.36 mph) (max) 19.8 knots (36.7 km/h; 22.8 mph) (service)[3] 2 knots (3.7 km/h; 2.3 mph) in 1.8 m (5.9 ft) level ice[4]
Aviation facilities	Helipad and hangar[3]

The Krasin (Russian: Красин) is a Russian (formerly Soviet) icebreaker. The vessel operates in polar regions.

History

The ship was built at the Wärtsilä Helsinki Shipyard in Helsinki, Finland in 1976.^[3] Named after an early Bolshevik leader and Soviet diplomat Leonid Krasin and an earlier icebreaker of the same name.

Design

The second Krasin is a triple-screw diesel-powered icebreaker owned by the Far East Shipping Company (FESCO) and is based in Vladivostok. The hull has a friction-reducing coating.^[5]

Krasin can break ice 6 feet (2 m) thick.^[6]

Service

During the 2004–2005 season (Operation Deep Freeze 2005), the United States Antarctic Program hired the Krasin as a secondary vessel to help clear a channel to McMurdo Station^[7] because the Coast Guard icebreaker Polar Star faced a record cut through fast ice of more than 90 miles (140 km). The Krasin departed Vladivostok on December 21, 2004, and arrived at the Ross Sea ice edge one month later.^[6][8]

The Krasin departed the Ross Sea on 9 February, reaching Vladivostok on March 5, 2005. She is unlikely to return to the Antarctic as FESCO have signed a multi-year contract for Krasin to support oil rig operations in the Sea of Okhotsk from March 2005 onwards.^[6] Along with her sister ship Admiral Makarov, Krasin has been providing winter escort to large capacity tankers from the port of De-Kastri (Khabarovsk) as part of the Sakhalin-I project.^[9] During the summer months she provides escort on the Northern Sea Route to the Eastern sector of Arctic servicing sea terminals of North Chukotka.^[10]

In September 2022, it was announced that Krasin's 1974-built sister ship Ermak would be dismantled for parts to keep the 1976-built icebreaker in service.^[11]

On April 1, 2023 Krasin left Murmansk after undergoing classification directed repairs to engines, hull, propulsion motors, and headed for the Northern Sea region, serving the Baltic, White, Caspian, Azov, Okhotsk, Japan, and Kara seas.