Russia’s first icebreaking patrol vessel for the Arctic arrives north

By Thomas Nilsen, The Independent Barents Observer April 2, 2025
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The Ivan Papanin will over the next three months undergo ice tests in the waters around Franz Josef Land.
The icebreaking patrol vessel Ivan Papanin made port call to Severomorsk, the main warship base on the Kola Peninsula, on March 31. Photo: Na strazhe zapolyariya

Built at the Admirality shipyard in St. Petersburg, the icebreaking patrol vessel sailed around the Baltics and Scandinavia in late March and arrived to the Northern Fleet’s main base on Monday, the Navy’s press service in Severomorsk informs.

The warship is not an icebreaker, but has an ice-reinforced hull much like the Norwegian Coast Guard vessel KV Svalbard and the Canadian Harry DeWolf class Coast Guard vessels.

Russia will get four ships of the class; two navy patrol ships for the Northern Fleet, and two FSB Coast Guard vessels, the Purga and Dzerzhinsky which will sail for the FSB Coast Guard.

The latter is named after Felix Dzerzhinsky, the architect of the red terror, the bolshevik’s mass-murdering of political opponents and creation of the Gulag prison camps.

The ships of the class, named Project 23550, are Russia’s first purposely built to sail military patrol deep inside the Arctic ice-cap. It has multirole functionalities of icebreaking up to 1,7 meter thick ice (Arc7), can serve as a tug-boat, conduct search- and rescue missions and transport various cargo to remote military locations.

The Ivan Papanin is armed with a 76 mm AK-176MA artillery gun, has a helipad and hangar designed for the Ka-27 helicopters. The ship can also carry UAVs and high-speed small boats.

In the rear, there are platforms for the portable, container-based version of the Kalibr-K cruise missiles. Such containers were not onboard when Ivan Papanin came to Severomorsk on Monday.

    It is expected that the new warship will be put in regular patrols for the Northern Fleet during the summer of 2025.

    Next vessel of the class, the Nikolai Zubov, will likely follow next year.

    The Ivan Papanin arrived to Severomorsk on the Barents Sea coast on March 31.
    Photo: Northern Fleet press service
    The Ivan Papanin in the Kola Bay.
    Photo: Northern Fleet press service
    The Northern Fleet will get two vessels of the class, while two others will sail for FSB Coast Guard. All will be tasked to patrol Russia’s ice-covered waters from Franz Josef Land in the west-Arctic to the Bering Strait in the east.
    Photo: Northern Fleet press service
    The Ivan Papanin is 114 meters long and has a beam of 18 meters. Under normal voyages the crew is 60, but there are room for 50 more on special missions.
    Photo: Northern Fleet press service
    Welcoming ceremony at the pier as the Ivan Papanin made first port call to Severomorsk on March 31.
    Photo: Northern Fleet press service
    Ivan Papanin is the first of four vessels of Russia’s new Project 23550.
    Photo: Northern Fleet press service

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