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Yacht NORD – Elite $500M Superyacht

Owned by Russian billionaire businessman, yacht NORD is the tenth biggest yacht in the world.

The annual running costs are an incredible $40 Million per year due to her massive 142-meter length.

Yacht NORD interior

The interior of the NORD yacht was developed by Nuvolari Lenard, an Italian yacht designer who also worked on the exterior of the impressive vessel.

Twenty-four guests can be accommodated in twelve luxurious cabins, including a spacious owner’s suite. There is additional space below the deck for up to 40 crew members.

Although exact details of the interior of NORD remain private and unknown to the public, the yacht is said to have two elevators, a large gym, a sauna, a beauty salon, and a cinema.

Lenard and his design studio are known for their upscale and aesthetically pleasing layouts, which are usually kept in earth tones and natural colors.

The Italian designer also worked on Mordashov’s smaller yacht, the LADY M, where he designed both the interior and exterior.

NORD specifications

The NORD yacht has a total length of 142 meters (465.1 ft). Her beam is 19.5 meters (64 ft) long, and her draft measures 5.4 meters (17.9).

The massive yacht weighs 9,259 tons. Her four MTU engines allow her to reach top speeds of 25 knots, although her average cruising speed lies closer to 20 knots.

NORD exterior

The exterior of the NORD yacht was designed by Nuvolari Lenard and his experienced Italian design studio which is considered one of the most exclusive in the world.

The yacht is white with dark blue elements on the top decks, creating a streamlined effect and making the vessel appear even more elegant.

She has two separate helipads, one of which even has a collapsible helicopter hangar that can store smaller aircraft.

On the aft of the yacht, there is a sizeable swimming pool and beach club. NORD has a high-quality steel hull and impressive aluminum superstructure. 

The owner purchased NORD for a price of US $500 million in 2021. The yacht is estimated to incur running costs of US $40 to 50 million annually.

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Russian oligarch's luxury yacht departs Hong Kong port

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Reporting By Greg Torode and Donny Kwok in Hong Kong; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky

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A Russian Oligarch’s $500 Million Megayacht Just Mysteriously Arrived in Hong Kong

The lürssen vessel nord is connected to the third-richest man in russia., tori latham, tori latham's most recent stories.

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Ever since Russia invaded Ukraine earlier this year, authorities have been keeping an eye on the megayachts owned by Russian oligarchs and allies of Vladimir Putin. One such vessel just mysteriously turned up in Hong Kong.

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The 465-foot Lürssen vessel in question, which contains two helipads, a cinema and 20 luxury cabins, left Vladivostok on September 27 and was initially headed for the Vietnamese port of Da Nang. However, it soon changed its route to Hong Kong and has been anchored there since Wednesday night, according to Bloomberg. It has also changed its flag from the Cayman Islands to Russia. A spokesperson for Mordashov told the publication that he was currently in Moscow and declined to comment on the yacht’s movement.

Since Putin began his war in Ukraine in February, more than a dozen yachts owned by Russian oligarchs have been seized by Western governments as a form of punishment for the owners having ties to the Russian president. In total, the seized yachts add up to more than $2.25 billion, and others have been immobilized in ports and naval yards across Europe.

The US has even formed a special task force, KleptoCapture, to go after Russian billionaires’ assets. Earlier this year, the unit helped seize Amadea , a $325 million superyacht supposedly owned by the gold tycoon Suleiman Kerimov.

To evade capture, some yacht owners have moved their vessels to the sanction-free waters of Russia and Turkey. But now that Mordashov’s Nord has turned up in Hong Kong, it’s unclear what will happen to it. One thing’s for certain, though: Despite its considerable size, the 465-footer is proving to be quite elusive.

Tori Latham is a digital staff writer at Robb Report. She was previously a copy editor at The Atlantic, and has written for publications including The Cut and The Hollywood Reporter. When not…

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Russia’s richest man, Alexei Mordashov, has secretly moved his gigantic 465-foot megayacht, Nord, to Abu Dhabi. Will this $500 million ‘Houdini of the high seas’ now make the UAE its new home?

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Russian oligarch's luxury yacht 'Nord' leaves Hong Kong

$500m vessel belonging to sanctioned russian oligarch alexey mordashov heading for cape town.

The 465-foot superyacht "Nord", reportedly owned by sanctioned Russian oligarch Alexei Mordashov is seen in Hong Kong, China, October 20, 2022. REUTERS / Donny Kwok

A luxury yacht belonging to sanctioned Russian oligarch Alexey Mordashov departed Hong Kong waters on Thursday, private tracking site MarineTraffic showed.

The $500 million Nord was heading for the South African port of Cape Town, Reuters reported.

The billionaire, who is close to Russian President Vladimir Putin, was among a number of Russians hit with sanctions by the US and EU after Russia's invasion of Ukraine .

His 141-metre vessel's prominent spot in the city's Victoria Harbour had sparked criticism from the US State Department in recent weeks.

Several Russian superyachts have been seized from ports around the world since the invasion began in February.

In August, the $75 million Axioma, allegedly owned by Dmitry Pumpyansky , was auctioned by Gibraltar.

In June, the $325 million Amadea, linked to oligarch Suleiman Kerimov , was seized by the US and arrived in San Diego Bay in California.

And in April, German authorities impounded Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov’s superyacht Dilbar after determining it was legally owned by his sister, who is also subject to western sanctions.

The Nord arrived in Hong Kong on October 5 and has spent 15 days untouched in its port after a seven-day voyage from Vladivostok in the Russian Far East, through the Sea of Japan and the East China Sea.

The Hong Kong government did not immediately respond to questions on Thursday night.

The vessel was placed by MarineTraffic in waters south-east of Hong Kong early on Thursday evening. It appeared to be heading into the South China Sea.

A witness saw a fuel barge alongside the vessel inside the harbour at noon.

Europe and US hitting Russian oligarch superyachts in sanctions

Hong Kong leader John Lee said on October 11 that the city's authorities would not act on unilateral sanctions imposed on Mr Mordashov by individual jurisdictions.

“We cannot do anything that has no legal basis,” said Mr Lee, who himself has been sanctioned by the US for his role in a crackdown on local freedoms.

Mr Lee, who is due to host an international investment summit in November with global business leaders, said the Chinese-ruled city would only abide by UN sanctions.

Reuters contributed to this report

News | World

Revealed: Luxury interior of Russian oligarch’s $500m superyacht after he sails it to Vladivostok ‘to evade Western sanctions’

The sumptuous interior of a sanctioned Russian oligarch’s yacht was exposed after customs officers posted a video on social media .

Alexei Mordashov’s $500 million floating palace Nord docked in Vladivostok after he reportedly feared it would be seized in the Seychelles .

Normally Moscow ’s billionaire set ply the waters of more exotic locations, and the sight of the 465ft Nord has stunned locals in Russia’s Pacific capital.

They are rushing to take selfies with the elite vessel, and customs officers who inspected the ship on arrival in port.

They were escorted around the ship by one of the crew, wearing shorts.

The video shows how well 56-year-old oligarch Mordashov - worth $21.2 billion according to Forbes - has done since he graduated from Northumbria University in England.

“We can see the interiors of several decks, Toyota Land Cruiser Prado cars, all-terrain vehicles, jet skis, motor boats, and a bathyscaphe,” said one local media account.

On a tour of the ship, a customs officer looks inside the 5-star facilities and says: “Business class room.”

The crew member corrects him saying: “First class”.

A customs man inspects one of several drinks cabinets, and comments disapprovingly: “No Russian vodka.”

The oligarch’s study was shown, and a shower room and pantry.

Mordashov is the main owner of Severstal, Russia’s largest steel and mining company.

Due to the video, the smart interior of the ocean-going yacht with its own swimming pool has been exposed for all to see.

“This is how the wealthy live even when they’re sanctioned,” said one comment.

“Mordashov won’t get any sympathy here.”

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Andrey Prokopchuk, a trade unionist, said: “Previously, serious guys used to tattoo the word ‘North’ [Nord] on their arms.”

It meant they had served time in a jail in Siberia or the Arctic.

“Today our serious boys have changed and named their mega-yachts like this.”

Others were more sympathetic.

“I am amazed at the ingenuity of the owner of this beauty,” said Yulia Ivanova.

“To sail this work of art for 20 days to its native land.”

The yacht costs $50 million to run but it remains out of reach of Western countries while in Russian waters.

Another Mordashov yacht worth $71 million and property worth $116 million was seized in Italy due to EU sanctions.

“I have absolutely nothing to do with the emergence of the current geopolitical tension and I do not understand why the EU has imposed sanctions on me,” he told Russian state news agency TASS.

Nord sails under a Cayman Islands flag.

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Who Really Blew Up the Nord Stream Pipeline?

New clues keep surfacing, and the most recent appear to implicate ukraine..

On September 26, 2022, a series of deep-sea explosions rocked the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 natural-gas pipelines along the bottom of the Baltic Sea near the Danish island of Bornholm. The bombings severed three of the Nord Stream project’s four underwater pipelines, which had been built to transport a direct supply of natural gas from Russia to customers in Western Europe — though none was in operation at the time of the bombing thanks to tensions over the war in Ukraine . More than eight months later, multiple countries continue to conduct their own investigations into the sabotage, and while the mystery of who targeted the pipelines remains unsolved, there are growing indications that Ukraine was behind the sabotage. Below is what we know about the prime suspects and latest developments.

Ukraine allegedly planned covert attack on Nord Stream, U.S. warned it not to

Three months before the bombing of the pipeline, the U.S. was informed by a European intelligence service that Ukraine had planned to use a small team of divers to conduct a covert attack on Nord Stream, according to U.S. intelligence documents shared online by Jack Teixeira , the National Guard airman accused of leaking U.S. intelligence secrets on Discord chat servers. The Wall Street Journal reports that the CIA had been tipped off about the plan by Dutch military intelligence and that in June 2022, the U.S. warned Ukraine not to target the pipelines. The CIA later told allies the plan appeared to have been called off, but per the Journal , that conclusion might have been premature:

Weeks later, in August, the CIA informed at least seven different NATO allies that Ukraine no longer appeared to be plotting to sabotage the pipelines and that the threat had diminished, European officials said. Those officials now believe Ukraine hadn’t canceled the original plan but had modified it, selecting a new point of departure and tapping an alternative military officer to lead it.

Ukraine has repeatedly denied any involvement in the bombing. “I believe that our military and our intelligence did not do it, and when anyone claims the opposite, I would like them to show us the evidence,” President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a recent Bild interview . Per the Washington Post , the would-be saboteurs involved in the initial Ukrainian plot that was discussed in the leaked U.S. intelligence documents planned to keep Zelenskyy out of the loop so he would have plausible deniability.

The saboteurs might have been based in Poland

According to a June 10 Wall Street Journal report , German investigators have been examining evidence that a Ukrainian sabotage team they suspect was responsible for the bombing used Poland as a base of operations:

The probe by Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office is examining why the yacht they believe was used to carry out the operation journeyed into Polish waters. Other findings suggest Poland was a hub for the logistics and financing of  last September’s undersea sabotage attack  that severed the strongest bond tying Berlin to Moscow. Poland, which is conducting its own inquiry, has struggled for months to learn what Germany is investigating.

German officials told the Journal they have found no evidence, at least not yet, that the Polish government was aware of the operation. The investigation has uncovered a lot more about the movements of the sailing yacht they believe the saboteurs used, however:

German investigators have fully reconstructed the entire two-week long voyage of the Andromeda — the 50-foot white pleasure yacht suspected of being involved in one of the biggest acts of sabotage on the continent since World War II — and pinpointed that it deviated from its target to venture into Polish waters. The previously unreported findings were pieced together with data from the Andromeda ’s radio and navigation equipment, as well as satellite and mobile phones and Gmail accounts used by the culprits — and DNA samples left aboard, which Germany has tried to match to at least one Ukrainian soldier … German investigators say they are also looking into why the yacht was rented with the help of a travel agency based in Warsaw that appears to be part of a network of Ukrainian-owned front companies with suspected links to Ukrainian intelligence, according to people familiar with the investigation.

The multiple-vessel theory

The Washington Post reported on April 3 that German law-enforcement officials believed the still-unknown saboteurs might have used multiple vessels to carry out their operation. German investigators’ earlier theory was that a small team of perpetrators used a rented 50-foot sailboat, the Andromeda , to plant explosives on the two pipelines. But as their investigation progressed, they began to suspect the boat might have been used as a decoy, and U.S. and European officials are also now skeptical that the Andromeda played a key role. One major reason for the doubt is the craft’s size and capabilities, per the Post :

Experts noted that while it was theoretically possible to place the explosives on the pipeline by hand, even skilled divers would be challenged submerging more than 200 feet to the seabed and slowly rising to the surface to allow time for their bodies to decompress. Such an operation would have taken multiple dives, exposing the Andromeda to detection from nearby ships. The mission would have been easier to hide and pull off using remotely piloted underwater vehicles or small submarines, said diving and salvage experts who have worked in the area of the explosion, which features rough seas and heavy shipping traffic.

Also according to the Post , investigators have confirmed that traces of military-grade explosives found during a search of the Andromeda in January matched the explosive used on the pipelines — but that the evidence might have been planted aboard the boat. Some investigators also doubt that a team skilled enough to blow up the pipelines while evading detection would be sloppy enough to leave that evidence behind, while others believe it was possible they were indeed that careless.

In early March, The Wall Street Journal reported that several large questions remained unanswered regarding the possible use of the Andromeda:

A key operational question investigators are looking into is whether the small boat could have carried the explosives and other supplies needed and whether the six people known to have been aboard would have been enough to carry out the attack, the German government official said. Another possibility is that the boat was part of a larger operation. They are also asking whether the mission was state-sponsored or a private effort, the official added.

It appears those concerns were justified. Investigators reportedly came to focus on the Andromeda after getting a tip from a western intelligence service, then ultimately theorized that a team of six people — five men and one woman — carried out the sabotage using the yacht, which had been hired by a Polish-registered company investigators believe was controlled by a wealthy Ukrainian. The team apparently used forged passports and embarked in the rented yacht on September 6 from the German port city of Rostock. The yacht later docked at a harbor without nighttime surveillance cameras in Wiek on the German island of Rügen, then visited the tiny Danish island Christiansø, which is very close to the site of the pipeline bombings.

German officials have publicly warned against forming conclusions based on the details revealed in media reports.

What is the mysterious object?

Denmark has reportedly found , and is in the process of salvaging, a mysterious object next to one of the damaged Nord Stream 2 pipelines. The Switzerland-based pipeline operator, Nord Stream 2 AG, has agreed to a request from Danish authorities to help identify it — though Denmark has already said the object may be a maritime smoke buoy, Bloomberg reported on March 26.

Was it some pro-Ukraine group?

In early March, the New York Times reported that U.S. officials had recently seen new intelligence suggesting that a pro-Ukraine but not necessarily Ukraine-backed group was behind the sabotage. According to the Times , the unnamed U.S. officials who have reviewed the intelligence said the group was likely made up of Ukrainian and/or Russian nationals who were opponents of Russian president Vladimir Putin but there was no evidence of direct links between the saboteurs and Ukraine’s leadership. (Ukraine has repeatedly denied any involvement in the bombings.) The divers in the saboteur group were not currently working for military or intelligence services, but they might have been trained by them in the past, according to the intelligence.

The Times also reported that “U.S. officials who have been briefed on the intelligence are divided about how much weight to put on the new information” but are now more optimistic that European and U.S. intelligence agencies will be able to get to the bottom of what happened.

A Washington Post report on the intelligence added that “a senior western security official said governments investigating the bombings uncovered evidence that pro-Ukraine individuals or entities discussed the possibility of carrying out an attack on the Nord Stream pipelines before the explosions.”

What about a false-flag operation?

U.S. and German officials have continued to emphasize that it remains possible the sabotage was disguised to look as if it were perpetrated by someone else. Ukrainian officials have stressed this possibility as well — naming Russia as the likely sponsor — but no evidence has been put forward to support the theory. If it had been a false flag, it’s conceivable any government could have been behind it.

Why not Russia?

After the sabotage, Poland and Ukraine immediately fingered Russia as the culprit, and both the U.S. and other NATO allies speculated as much themselves. U.S. and European intelligence agencies have reportedly been unable to find any conclusive evidence of Russia’s involvement, however. It also remains unclear what Russia would have had to gain from disabling its own pipeline, which it helped build and had already shut off.

Or maybe it was the United States all along?

Amid Russia’s buildup on the Ukrainian border in early February of last year, President Biden warned that “If Russia invades … again, then there will no longer be Nord Stream 2. We will bring an end to it.” Some have interpreted that statement as a kind of advance admission of guilt, including American investigative journalist Seymour Hersh , who last month published a report on his Substack alleging the U.S. had conducted a covert strike on the pipelines. Hersh’s supposed bombshell, which was quickly endorsed by Kremlin officials and Russian state media, primarily relied on what appeared to be a single unnamed source who, Hersh wrote, had “direct knowledge of the operational planning” for the sabotage. The White House has rejected his post as “complete fiction,” and some members of the open-source intelligence community have detailed numerous holes in Hersh’s assertions.

The Intercept’s Jeremy Scahill offered a more open-minded reading of the allegations, noting that Hersh might have screwed up the facts but not the premise. Scahill points out that the U.S. has authorized and then lied about numerous covert actions throughout its history and that recent disclosures to the media about intelligence pointing to Ukrainian partisans may be an example of “narrative washing.” At this point, however, there is no evidence linking the U.S. to the sabotage.

• foreign interests
• unsolved mysteries
• nordstream pipeline
• war in ukraine

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Explosions at Nord Streams: Nord Stream company demands compensation of €400 million

T he company Nord Stream has filed a lawsuit against insurance companies and is demanding over 400 million euros in compensation for damages caused by explosions in 2022, informs Reuters.

Nord Stream is suing all insurers in its lawsuit. According to court documents, the company intends to claim compensation from Lloyd's and other insurance companies.

The court documents state that Nord Stream's current preliminary estimate of "the costs to dewater and stabilize the pipeline, to undertake a full repair and to replace the lost gas inventory" ranges from 1.2 to 1.35 billion euros. However, company sources note that Nord Stream expects to receive only 400 million euros.

The lawsuit concerns explosions in September 2022 that led to the rupture of the pipelines Nord Stream-1 and Nord Stream-2.

Nord Streams

The gas pipelines Nord Stream-1 and Nord Stream-2 were constructed by the Russian company Gazprom to transit 110 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year to Germany and other European countries. However, Nord Stream-2 has not been put into operation due to the Russian invasion, and Nord Stream-1 was halted by Gazprom in the summer of 2022. Three out of four branches of the pipelines were sabotaged on September 26, 2022.

Investigations indicate high activity of Russian military ships near the Nord Streams shortly before the explosion.

Media reports also suggested the involvement of a private group of Ukrainian saboteurs on a yacht in the sabotage, but this version is not being seriously considered.

In February 2024, Denmark and Sweden announced the completion of the investigation into the explosions on the Nord Streams.

Norilsk: The city built by gulag prisoners where Russia guards its Arctic secrets

Environmental activists are frustrated by how authorities handled a diesel spill which poured into two Arctic rivers in late May.

International correspondent @DiMagnaySky

Friday 3 July 2020 23:41, UK

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The drive from Norilsk airport to the city takes you past mile after mile of crumbling, Soviet-era factories.

It looks like an endless, rusting scrapyard - a jumble of pipes, industrial junk and frost-bitten brickwork. If you were looking for an industrial apocalypse film setting, this would be your place - but you're unlikely to get the permissions.

Norilsk was built in Stalin's times by gulag prisoners. This gritty industrial city is a testament to their endurance both of the cruelty of Stalin's regime and of the harsh polar climate. There were no thoughts then on how to build to protect the environment, just to survive it.

Vasily Ryabinin doesn't think much has changed, at least in ecological terms. He used to work for the local branch of the federal environmental watchdog, Rosprirodnadzor, but quit in June after exposing what he says was a failure to investigate properly the environmental impact of the gigantic diesel spill which poured into two Arctic rivers in late May.

At 21,000 tonnes, it was the largest industrial spill in the polar Arctic .

Despite the Kremlin declaring a federal emergency and sending a host of different agencies to participate in the clean-up, just last week Mr Ryabinin and activists from Greenpeace Russia found another area where technical water used in industrial processes was being pumped directly into the tundra from a nearby tailing pond. Russia's investigative committee has promised to investigate.

"The ecological situation here is so bad," Mr Ryabinin says.

"The latest constructions such as the tailing pond at the Talnack ore-processing plant were built exclusively by Nornickel chief executive Vladimir Potanin's team and supposedly in accordance with ecological standards, but on satellite images you can see that all the lakes in the vicinity have unnatural colours and obviously something has got into them."

Mining company Nornickel would disagree. It has admitted flagrant violations at the tailing pond and suspended staff it deems responsible at both the Talnack plant and at Norilsk Heat and Power plant no 3 where the diesel spill originated from.

On Thursday it appointed Andrey Bougrov, from its senior management board, to the newly-created role of senior vice president for environmental protection. It has a clear environmental strategy, provides regular updates on the status of the spill, and its Twitter feed is filled with climate-related alerts.

But what investors read is very different to the picture on the ground.

Norilsk used to be a closed city - one of dozens across the Soviet Union shut off to protect industrial secrets. Foreigners need special permissions approved by the Federal Security Service (FSB) to enter the region. It would take an invitation from Nornickel to make that happen and, for the past month since the spill, that has not been forthcoming.

Unlike in Soviet times, Russian citizens are now free to come and go. That's why our Sky News Moscow team were able to fly in and travel around the city, even if getting to the spill site was blocked. What they were able to film provides a snapshot of the immense challenge Russia faces in upgrading its Soviet-era industrial infrastructure, particularly at a time when climate change is melting the permafrost on which much of it was built.

Just downwind from one of the rusting factories on the city outskirts is a huge expanse of dead land. The skeletal remains of trees stand forlorn against the howling Arctic winds. Sulphur dioxide poisoning has snuffed the life out of all that lived here. Norilsk is the world's worst emitter of sulphur dioxide by a substantial margin.

"For 80km south of here everything is dead," Mr Ryabinin says, "and for at least 10km in that direction too. Everything here depends on the wind."

Immediately after the spill, Mr Ryabinin filmed and took samples from the Daldykan river just a few kilometres from the fuel tank which had leaked. By that point the river was a churning mix of diesel and red sludge dredged up from the riverbed by the force of the leak. Norilsk's rivers have turned red before and the chemical residues have sunk to the bottom, killing all life there. Nothing has lived in those rivers for decades.

In his capacity as deputy head of the local environmental watchdog, Mr Ryabinin says he insisted that he be allowed to fly further north to check the levels of contamination in Lake Pyasino and beyond.

Nornickel at the time claimed the lake was untouched by the spill. Mr Ryabinin says his boss encouraged him to let things be.

"I can't be sure I would have found anything, but this sort of confrontation - making sure I didn't go there with a camera, let alone with bottles for taking samples, it was all very clear to me. It was the final straw."

Rosprirodnadzor refused to comment to Sky News on Mr Ryabinin's allegations or suggestions that the agency was working hand in hand with Nornickel.

Georgy Kavanosyan is an environmental blogger with a healthy 37,000 following on YouTube. Shortly after the spill, he set out for Lake Pyasino and to the Pyasina River beyond to see how far the diesel had spread.

"We set out at night so that the Norilsk Nickel security wouldn't detect us. I say at night, but they've got polar nights there now, north of the Arctic Circle. So it's still light but it's quieter and we managed to go past all the cordons."

He is one of the few to have provided evidence that the diesel has in fact travelled far beyond where the company admits. Not just the 1,200km (745m) length of Lake Pyasino but into the river beyond.

He says his measurements indicated a volume of hydrocarbons dissolved in the water of between two and three times normal levels. He thinks after he published his findings on YouTube, the authorities' vigilance increased.

Greenpeace Russia have spent the last two weeks trying to obtain samples from Lake Pyasino and the surrounding area. They have faced difficulties getting around and flying their samples out for independent analysis.

They are now waiting for results from a laboratory in St Petersburg but say the samples remain valid technically for just four days after collection and that they weren't able to make that deadline due to the authorities' actively obstructing their work.

Elena Sakirko from Greenpeace Russia specialises in oil spills and says this has happened to her before. This time, a police helicopter flew to the hunter's hut where they were staying and confiscated the fuel for the boat they were using. Then a deputy for the Moscow city parliament tasked with bringing the samples back from Norilsk was forced to go back empty-handed.

"We were told at the airport we needed permission from the security department of Nornickel," Ms Sakirko says. "We asked them to show us some law or statement to prove that this was legal or what the basis for this was, but they haven't showed us anything and we still don't understand it."

Nornickel announced this week that the critical stage of the diesel spill is over. The company is now finalising dates for a press tour for foreign media and for other international environmentalists.

Mr Ryabinin thinks this should have happened weeks ago.

"If we don't let scientists come to the Arctic region to evaluate the impact of the accident, then in the future if anything similar happens, we won't know what to do."

A spokesperson for Nornickel said the company "is actively cooperating with the scientific community and will meticulously assess both the causes and effects of the accident."

Nornickel considers permafrost thawing to be the primary cause of the accident, but is waiting for the end of investigation before making a final statement, the spokesperson said.

They added that the company "accepts full responsibility for the incidents on its sites these past two months and holds itself accountable for any infrastructural deficits or poor decisions by personnel.

"The imperative is to do everything to clean up our sites, instil a stronger culture of transparency and safety in our workforce, and ensure that such situations do not occur in the future."

First refuelling for Russia’s Akademik Lomonosov floating NPP

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The FNPP includes two KLT-40S reactor units. In such reactors, nuclear fuel is not replaced in the same way as in standard NPPs – partial replacement of fuel once every 12-18 months. Instead, once every few years the entire reactor core is replaced with and a full load of fresh fuel.

The KLT-40S reactor cores have a number of advantages compared with standard NPPs. For the first time, a cassette core was used, which made it possible to increase the fuel cycle to 3-3.5 years before refuelling, and also reduce by one and a half times the fuel component in the cost of the electricity produced. The operating experience of the FNPP provided the basis for the design of the new series of nuclear icebreaker reactors (series 22220). Currently, three such icebreakers have been launched.

The Akademik Lomonosov was connected to the power grid in December 2019, and put into commercial operation in May 2020.

Electricity generation from the FNPP at the end of 2023 amounted to 194 GWh. The population of Pevek is just over 4,000 people. However, the plant can potentially provide electricity to a city with a population of up to 100,000. The FNPP solved two problems. Firstly, it replaced the retiring capacities of the Bilibino Nuclear Power Plant, which has been operating since 1974, as well as the Chaunskaya Thermal Power Plant, which is more than 70 years old. It also supplies power to the main mining enterprises located in western Chukotka. In September, a 490 km 110 kilovolt power transmission line was put into operation connecting Pevek and Bilibino.

Image courtesy of TVEL

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• Norwegian Bokmål

Russia Sends Nuclear Fuel Across Arctic on Ship with History of Safety Violations

Weeks after sending crude oil on non-ice class tankers through the Arctic, Russian authorities shipped nuclear fuel across the Northern Sea Route on a cargo ship not specialized in the transport of nuclear fuel. Ship records also show a host of safety deficiencies during past inspections. The nuclear fuel traveled from Murmansk to Pevek to resupply the floating nuclear power plant Akademik Lomonosov.

Norsk versjon

Five years after towing the world’s only floating nuclear power plant into the Arctic, Russia’s State Nuclear Energy Corporation, Rosatom, delivered a fresh batch of nuclear fuel to the facility.

The nuclear material traveled along the Northern Sea Route (NSR) from Murmansk to Pevek aboard the cargo ship Smp Arkhangelsk . 

Ship records indicate that the vessel has a long history of safety violations and deficiencies recorded during inspections over the last decade. The vessel’s owner, Northern Shipping Company, has also been under sanctions by the US since May 2022. 

The transport of nuclear fuel customarily occurs on highly specialized vessels under strict international guidelines. The carrying of nuclear fuel on a conventional cargo ship across the Arctic’s icy waters is a cause for concern, according to industry experts interviewed by HNN. 

The nuclear fuel was manufactured by Rosatom fuel company “TVEL” in Elektrostal near Moscow before it was dispatched aboard Smp Arkhangelsk from Murmansk on September 15. The vessel arrived in Pevek 10 days later and took up position next to Akademik Lomonosov.

Based on satellite images analyzed by HNN the transfer of fuel took approximately 10 days.

A history of deficiencies

The vessel, constructed in 2002 by Damen Shipyard in Romania, has passed through the hands of seven different owners before arriving with its current operator, Northern Shipping Company. 

Port inspections going back more than a decade reveal violations ranging from missing voyage data recorder, lack of rescue boats and defect fire pumps, to inoperative auxiliary engines and MARPOL pollution prevention violations. 

While some of the violations were minor and none were severe enough to necessitate the detention of the vessel, they do paint a picture of an aging ship with ongoing deficiencies. Available public records also do not show any inspections since 2021.

“Considering this a voyage with dangerous cargo, it is pushing the limits,” explains Sigurd Enge, Senior Advisor on Shipping at Bellona Foundation, an international environmental NGO headquartered in Oslo, Norway.

“The risk connected to this vessel, on the Northern Sea Route in October is high, and based on their [safety inspection] track record, is very high,” continues Enge, who is one of the most experienced advisers at Bellona, working on marine safety.

“The Port State Controls with violation indicates that there is a high risk that an incident can occur. And with a history of lack of safety equipment, inadequate propulsion and auxiliary machinery, certificates and fire pumps, an incident can quickly turn into a serious event in terms of firefighting, safety equipment and skills.”

Not following international customs

The transport of nuclear materials in international waters is highly regulated, with a short list of specialized vessels, such as British freighters Pacific Egret or Pacific Grebe , doing the work. Nuclear material must also be stored in highly secured containers. 

The use of a ship not specialized in the transport of nuclear fuel shows limited options available to Russia “as there are ships that carry out this type of loading in Europe, for example,” explains Hervé Baudu, Chief Professor of Maritime Education at the French Maritime Academy (ENSM)

“This is clearly a case where Russia is proceeding in its own waters and territories with the means at its disposal. Admittedly, the ship does not comply with international requirements, but let's hope that the containers carrying the waste or fuel do,” he continues.

Based on the type deficiencies and where they were registered the ship is “not used to international customs and regulations,” explains Baudu. 

Risks related to time of year

The vessel’s lower Arc4 ice-class is also a cause for concern, with Enge calling it “not so reassuring.”

“To operate on the NSR at this time of year involves a risk. In October, the ice conditions can change fast, with new ice formation and strong wind and various temperatures the ice cover can move fast.”

It seems that the authorities are willing to carry out voyages ‘at any cost’. Hervé Baudu, Chief Professor of Maritime Education at the French Maritime Academy

Given the possibility of rapidly changing conditions, including weather and ice conditions, “the risk for dangerous cargo transport with not well-equipped ships is unacceptable,” concludes Sigurd. 

This holds especially true given Russia’s history related to the dumping of radioactive materials and sunken submarines across the Arctic in the Barents and the Kara Sea. 

Pushing ahead despite sanctions

The shipment of nuclear fuel follows the initial transport of crude oil to China across the Arctic on aging non-ice class oil tankers a few weeks ago.

“We are seeing violations of environmental rights with oil tankers from a fleet that is black and potentially dangerous as long as there is war in Ukraine,” elaborates Baudu. 

Enge concurs that sanctions have impacted operations on the NSR.

“The need to use the route for transport eastward makes the government more willing to push the limits for safety and “clean and safe operations in general. It seems that the authorities are willing to carry out voyages ‘at any cost’.”

Rosatom and TVEL did not respond to requests for comment.

Russia Sends Oil Tanker Without Ice Protection Through Arctic For First Time

Putin Green-lights Novatek’s Massive Murmansk LNG Project

• nuclear fuel
• Nuclear waste
• Akademik Lomonosov
• Northern Sea Route

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