Editing Sevmorput (section)

==== Murmansk Shipping Company (1988–2008) ====

After leaving the shipyard and entering commercial service, ''Sevmorput'' sailed through the [[Mediterranean]] and around Africa until finally reaching the Soviet Far East.<ref name="latimes1989">[https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-03-08-mn-249-story.html Four Soviet Ports Bar Ship in Protest Over Nuclear Safety]. Los Angeles Times, 8 March 1989. {{retrieved | accessdate=2011-11-26}}</ref> However, authorities in [[Nakhodka]], [[Vostochny Port|Vostochny]], [[Magadan]] and [[Vladivostok]] refused to accept the two-month-old ship into their ports due to popular protests. In addition the harbour workers also refused to load or unload any cargo or provide any port services due to fears of radiation leakage. This was caused by uncertainty about the safety of the ship's nuclear propulsion system and the shadow of the [[Chernobyl disaster]] only a few years earlier. The local newspapers had also reported a four-minute emergency on board the nuclear icebreaker [[Rossiya (icebreaker)|''Rossiya'']] only a week before the arrival of ''Sevmorput''.<ref name="latimes1989" /> The ship was finally allowed to dock at Vladivostok on 13 March 1989.<ref name="globalsecurity">[http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/russia/10081.htm Project 10081 Sevmorput]. GlobalSecurity.org. {{retrieved | accessdate=2011-11-27}}</ref>

The initial plan was to utilize ''Sevmorput'' in international transport, and the Soviet government applied for a permission to have the ship make several stops in [[Vancouver, British Columbia]], [[Canada]], in March 1990. However, the permission was denied because the evacuation and emergency response measures of the city were not deemed adequate in case of an accident involving the ship's nuclear reactor. Later the ship was mainly used on the Murmansk-[[Dudinka]] route, but also made several trips to [[Vietnam]] in the early 1990s.<ref name="globalsecurity" /> The daily operating expenses of ''Sevmorput'' were reportedly around US$90,000 and she was not expected to make profit during the first two years of her career.<ref name="latimes1989" />

In the late 1990s, ''Sevmorput'' was laid up in Murmansk due to delays in the refueling of her reactor.<ref name="bellona_refuel">[http://bellona.org/english_import_area/international/russia/icebreakers/storage/8629 Lepse to get patched up] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090704005612/http://www.bellona.org/english_import_area/international/russia/icebreakers/storage/8629 |date=4 July 2009 }}. Bellona Foundation, 29 June 1999. {{retrieved | accessdate=2011-11-28}}</ref> The refueling finally took place in 2001 and later the ship resumed service on the Dudinka route.<ref name="globalsecurity" />

In August 2007, it was reported that ''Sevmorput'' would be converted into the world's first nuclear-powered [[drillship]] due to lack of demand for cargo operators for lighters and the need of specialized drilling vessels in the Russian Arctic. The conversion at the Zvezdochka plant in [[Severodvinsk]] was to take only 18 months.<ref name="bo2007">[http://www.barentsobserver.com/index.php?id=526765 Murmansk gets the world's first nuclear-powered oil drilling vessel]. BarentsObserver.com, 7 August 2007. {{retrieved | accessdate=2011-11-28}}</ref> However, the renovation project was cancelled in February 2008.<ref name="globalsecurity" />