1.
GV PAN: Leningrad waterfront onto frozen Neva Delta
0.10

2.
GV: Icebreaker "Sibir" launching ramp.
0.14

3.
LV: Officials on rostrum.
0.21

4.
CU: People watch as flag raised on icebreaker.
0.35

5.
CU: Flag raised ZOOM OUT TO GV: Icebreaker being launched.
0.46

6.
CU AND GV: Icebreaker slides into water and comes to rest (4 shots)
1.09



Initials RH/1705 RH/PK/AH/1725



Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved

Background: A new atomic powered icebreaker named the "Sibir" was launched at the Leningrad Shipyard on Monday (23 February) for service in the Arctic Ocean.

The Sibir is the second atomic-powered icebreaker in a series started by the shipyard in the past five years.

The Sibir is 420 feet (140 metres) long and 90 feet (30 metres) wide. The new vessel has a displacement of 23,500 tons. Its' engines are capable of developing 75,000 horse power, giving a top cruising speed of 21 nautical miles per hour (39 milometres per hour). The builders say the ship will not discharge a single partial of harmful nuclear waste into the sea.

The finishing touches are now being put to the Sibir before final sea trials begin, and the vessel is accepted for operational duties in the Arctic.

The Soviet Union already had a large fleet of icebreakers, including at least three atomic powered ships for use in Arctic waters. The first nuclear powered surface ship to put to sea anywhere in the World was the Soviet Union's icebreaker the "Lenin".

The Soviet Novosti Information Service said the Sibir was completed ahead of schedule.

The Soviet Union regards its' modern icebreaking fleet as of prime importance in the development, exploration and research of the vast polar region stretching from the Barents Sea in the west to the Bering Sea in the east.