Russia's nuclear agency Atomflot has ordered two additional multipurpose nuclear-powered icebreakers worth $1.5bn.

They are the fourth and fifth in its Project 22220 series at the Baltiysky Zavod yard, it said.

Demand for nuclear-powered icebreakers along the Northern Sea Route is growing, with the increasing cargo flow meaning that the era of the most advanced nuclear-powered icebreakers is not over, it added.