The contract of Kuzey Star, one of Turkey’s most important shipyards, in Russia has been canceled. Sergei Pylin, the CEO of Rosmorport, the Federal Agency for Maritime and Inland Water Transport under the Russian Ministry of Transport, stated that the contract for the icebreakers was terminated. The Turkish shipyard Kuzey Star had signed a contract in 2021 for the construction of icebreakers known as “Project 23620”.
According to the news by Kerim Ülker from Patronlar Dünyası, the cost in the agreement, which was 18.5 billion rubles, or 232 million dollars, increased to 41 billion rubles, or 410 million dollars. The advance payment for the cost, which exceeds 17 billion lira at today’s exchange rate, was also returned. In 2021, the Russian Onega shipyard had won the tender, but it was announced that the ships would be built by Kuzey Star as a subcontractor.
Both icebreakers were to be built entirely in the Turkish shipyard and delivered in 2024. However, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 negatively affected both costs and the timeline. The construction of two Icebreaker7 class icebreakers with a capacity of 12 to 14 MW was extended by another 2 years.
Increased to 41 billion rubles
Sergei Pylin said, “The contract price was 18.5 billion rubles, but after redesign and equipment selection, it almost doubled, reaching 41 billion rubles. As a result, it was decided that for now we will not build Project 23620 icebreakers and will instead use Arc6 tugs with an increased ice class, produced at the Butoma Shipyard.”
It had been placed on the sanctions list because of the project
The Russian tender won by the Turkish company even dragged Kuzey Star into the sanctions process. Due to a transaction linked to Russia, Kuzey Star was placed on the sanctions list by the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) in January of this year. On October 10th, a new decision was made this time, and Kuzey Star Shipyard was removed from the sanctions list, the shipyard was removed from the sanctions list.
