A fire broke out aboard the Russian diesel-electric icebreaker Admiral Makarov while the vessel was undergoing repairs at the Kronstadt Marine Plant near St. Petersburg.

The fire started on 5 September 2026 in the steering-gear compartment at the stern and covered an area of about 80 m².

Russian emergency services deployed 52 personnel and 10 pieces of equipment to the scene. Firefighters brought the blaze under control and extinguished it within about two hours.

No injuries were reported. The cause of the fire and the extent of damage to Admiral Makarov have not been disclosed.

The icebreaker has been undergoing repairs since spring 2025. The work includes repairs to the hull, propellers, three propeller shafts and the vessel’s main engines.

Repairs to the main engines are expected to continue until the end of 2026. After completion of the repair programme, Admiral Makarov had been expected to escort vessels to Russian ports in the eastern Gulf of Finland during the winter navigation season.

Admiral Makarov is a Project R-1039 diesel-electric icebreaker built by Wärtsilä in Helsinki, Finland, in 1975 for the Soviet Union.

The vessel is one of three Yermak-class icebreakers built in Finland. The other two vessels are Yermak, built in 1974, and Krasin, built in 1976.

Admiral Makarov has a displacement of about 20,247 tonnes and measures 134.84 m in length and 26.05 m in width, with a draft of up to 11 m.

Its engines produce about 30.5MW. The vessel can reach approximately 19.5 to 20 knots and travel through level ice up to 1.5 m thick at about two knots.

The icebreaker has a crew of 58 and can operate for up to three months without refuelling. It was transferred to Rosmorport’s Northwestern Basin Branch in late 2025 after operating in Russia’s Far East and later in the Arctic.

The vessel remains under repair. The cause of the fire and the extent of the damage have not been disclosed.