View source for Yamal (icebreaker)

{{Short description|Arktika-class icebreaker built in 1992}}
{{Other uses|Yamal (disambiguation)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2019}}

{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=Yamal 2009.JPG
|Ship caption=''Yamal'' during the removal of the ''[[North Pole-36]]'' drifting station in 2009.
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship country=
|Ship flag=
|Ship name=''Yamal'' (''Ямал'')
|Ship namesake=[[Yamal Peninsula]]
|Ship owner=Russian Federation
|Ship operator=[[FSUE Atomflot]]
|Ship registry=[[Murmansk]], {{RUS}}
|Ship route=
|Ship awarded=
|Ship builder=[[Baltic Shipyard]]
|Ship original cost=
|Ship yard number=
|Ship way number=
|Ship laid down=1986
|Ship launched=1989
|Ship christened=
|Ship completed=
|Ship acquired=
|Ship commissioned=October 1992
|Ship recommissioned=
|Ship decommissioned=
|Ship maiden voyage=
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship reinstated=
|Ship homeport=
|Ship identification=*{{IMO Number|9077549}}
*{{MMSI Number|273132400}}
*[[Maritime call sign|Callsign]]: UCJT
|Ship fate=
|Ship status=In active service
|Ship notes=
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rosatomflot.ru/index.php?menuid=35&lang=en |title=Atomic Icebreakers Technical Data |publisher=rosatomflot.ru |access-date=9 October 2017}}</ref>
|Ship class={{sclass|Arktika|icebreaker}}
|Ship tonnage=
|Ship displacement=23,000 tons
|Ship length={{convert|148|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam={{convert|30|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship height=
|Ship draught={{convert|11|m|ft|abbr=on}}
|Ship draft=
|Ship depth={{convert|17.2|m|ft|abbr=on}}
|Ship ice class=
|Ship power=* Two [[OK-150 reactor|OK-900A]] [[nuclear reactor]]s (2{{nbsp}}×{{nbsp}}171{{nbsp}}MW)
* Two steam turbogenerators (2{{nbsp}}×{{nbsp}}27.6{{nbsp}}MW)
|Ship propulsion=* Nuclear-turbo-electric
* Three shafts (3{{nbsp}}×{{nbsp}}18{{nbsp}}MW)
|Ship speed={{convert|20.6|kn}} (maximum)
|Ship range=
|Ship endurance=7.5 months
|Ship crew=189
|Ship aircraft=1 × [[Mil Mi-2|Mi-2]], [[Mil Mi-8|Mi-8]] or [[Kamov Ka-27|Ka-27]] helicopter
|Ship aircraft facilities=Helipad and hangar for one helicopter
|Ship notes=
}}
|}

'''''Yamal''''' ({{langx|ru|Ямал}}) is a Russian {{sclass|Arktika|icebreaker|0}} [[nuclear-powered icebreaker]] operated by [[Atomflot]] (formerly by the [[Murmansk Shipping Company]]). She is named after the [[Yamal Peninsula]] in Northwest [[Siberia]]; the name means ''End of the Land'' in [[Nenets languages|Nenets]].

[[Keel laying|Laid down]] in [[Saint Petersburg|Leningrad]] in 1986, and commissioned in October 1992, after the breakup of the [[Soviet Union]], she filled her designed role of keeping [[shipping lane]]s open and also carried passengers on Arctic excursions.  In July 1994 ''Yamal'' took an excursion to the [[North Pole]], with the NSF ([[National Science Foundation]] – US), to celebrate the official maiden voyage. While at the exact North Pole (verified by GPS & Inmarsat satellite coordinates) the crew and passengers celebrated with a barbeque – the ambient temperature was {{convert|−23|C|F|0}} (wind gusts were measured at {{convert|−40|C|F|0}}).  Because of the ship 90/90 coordinates the [[Sea captain|ship captain]] (Smirnov) organized a swimming party with Will Rountree (US) being recorded as the first person to ever swim there (21 July 1994) – water temperature was below freezing, ranging from {{convert|0|to|−1.8|C|F|0}}. {{Citation needed|date=October 2009}} In 2007 [[Lewis Gordon Pugh]] swam a kilometer at the North Pole, having sailed there aboard ''Yamal''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.wwf.org.uk/updates/lewis-gordon-pugh-first-swim-geographic-north-pole|title=Lewis Gordon Pugh first to swim at Geographic North Pole|website=WWF}}</ref>

''Yamal'' is equipped with a [[double hull]]. The outer hull is {{convert|48|mm|in|abbr=on|2}} thick where ice is met and {{convert|25|mm|in|abbr=on|2}} elsewhere and has a [[polymer]] coating to reduce [[friction]]. There is water ballast between the inner and outer hulls which can be shifted in order to aid [[icebreaking]]. Icebreaking is also assisted by an air bubbling system which can deliver {{convert|24|m3/s|abbr=on}} of air from jets {{convert|9|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} below the surface. ''Yamal'' can break ice while making way either forwards or backwards.

''Yamal'' is one of the Russian {{sclass|Arktika|icebreaker|5}} family of icebreakers, the most powerful icebreakers in the world.  These ships must cruise in cold water to cool their reactors{{failed verification|date=March 2016}}, so they cannot pass through the tropics to undertake voyages in the [[Southern hemisphere]].<ref name="coolantarctica">{{cite web|url=http://coolantarctica.com/Antarctica%20fact%20file/ships/Yamal_ice_breaker.htm |title=Yamal, a nuclear powered icebreaker |access-date=12 November 2009 |last=Ward |first=Paul |date=7 November 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140329001229/http://coolantarctica.com/Antarctica%20fact%20file/ships/Yamal_ice_breaker.htm |archive-date=29 March 2014 }}</ref>

''Yamal'' carries one helicopter and several [[Zodiac (boat)|Zodiac boats]]. Radio and satellite communications systems are installed which can provide navigation, telephone, fax, and email services. Amenities include a large dining room (capable of holding all 100 passengers in one sitting), a library, passenger lounge, auditorium, volleyball court, gymnasium, heated indoor swimming pool, a sauna, and an infirmary. She is equipped with 50 passenger cabins and suites, all with toilets, exterior windows, a television, and a desk.

''Yamal'' also played a significant role in creation of annual travel expeditions to the North Pole, being one of the few vessels capable of getting there and bringing tourists with it in safety. Since 1993 the icebreaker was operated by Murmansk Shipping Company and in 2001–2008 the operation was made by Murmansk Shipping Company and [[Poseidon Expeditions]].<ref>{{cite web|date=23 January 2001|title=Seeing the Millennium in 90N: Aboard the Icebreaker "Yamal"|url=http://www.northpolevoyages.com/aboard_e.htm|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010123223700/http://www.northpolevoyages.com/aboard_e.htm|archive-date=23 January 2001|access-date=17 July 2016|website=NorthPoleVoyages}}</ref> ''Yamal'' has made a total of 47 voyages<ref>"[http://arktika.polarpost.ru/images/icebreaker-on-the-pole.jpg Infographic in Russian describing the amount of voyages to the North Pole among Russian icebreakers]</ref> to the North Pole.

[[File:Nuclearicebreakeryamal.jpg|thumb|''Yamal'' on her way to the North Pole, 2001]]
[[File:RIAN archive 455427 Nuclear ice-breaker Yamal arrives in Murmansk.jpg|thumb|''Yamal'' in Murmansk, 2009]]
[[File:RU028 09.jpg|thumb|''Yamal'' on a Russian stamp]]

==Events==
[[North Pole-36]] and [[North Pole-37]]

From August to September 2009 the icebreaker took part in the scheduled evacuation of [[Soviet and Russian manned drifting ice stations|drifting ice stations]]. Each station houses 18 polar explorers, dogs, and more than 150 tons of cargo. The evacuation of station personnel and cargo from a drifting ice floe requires three days of continuous, round-the-clock work. This high-latitude [[Arctic]] work was supervised by expedition leader [[Vladimir Sokolov, polar explorer|Vladimir Sokolov]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.fontanka.ru/2009/08/22/003/|trans-title=The atomic-powered vessel "Yamal" left to Arctic regions for Petersburg polar explorers |script-title=ru:Атомоход "Ямал" вышел в Арктику за питерскими полярниками|date=22 August 2009|work=community|publisher= fontanka.ru|language=ru|access-date=25 August 2009}}</ref>

==Incidents and accidents==
*On 23 December 1996, a crew member was killed when a fire broke out on board the icebreaker. The nuclear reactor powering the ship was not affected by the fire. The crew extinguished the blaze within 30 minutes.
*On 16 March 2009 ''Yamal'' collided with the product tanker {{ship|MT|Indiga}} in [[Yenisei Gulf]] in the [[Kara Sea]]. While the tanker suffered a {{convert|9.5|m|ft|adj=on}} crack on the main deck, no damage was reported for ''Yamal''.<ref name="portworld">[http://www.portworld.com/news/2009/03/76114 Ice-breaker collides with tanker in Arctic Ocean], PortWorld News, 30 March 2009.</ref><ref name="barentsobserver">[http://www.barentsobserver.com/index.php?id=4570089 Nuclear powered icebreaker collided with oil tanker], BarentsObserver, 24 March 2009.</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category-inline|bullet=none|IMO 9077549}}
*{{YouTube|x1XMZTzELaE|Video taken on board the Yamal in 2001 taking tourists to the North Pole}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20131112091357/http://poseidonexpeditions.com/northpole/reports/ Field reports from tourists made aboard Yamal]
*[http://rbth.ru/science_and_tech/2014/01/22/icehunters_russian_conquerors_of_the_north_pole_33439.html/ Icehunters: Russian conquerors of the North Pole]{{Dead link|date=September 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

{{Nuclear-powered icebreakers}}
{{Nuclear surface ships}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yamal (Icebreaker)}}
[[Category:1992 ships]]
[[Category:Arktika-class icebreakers]]
[[Category:Expedition cruising]]
[[Category:Ships built at the Baltic Shipyard]]