During a period beginning in 1982 and ending in 1987, a total of nineteen SA-15 multipurpose freighters, of which the Noril'sk was delivered first, were built for the Soviet system at two Finnish shipyards, Wartsla and Valmet. As of 1998, nine of these vessels were employed by the Murmansk Shipping Company, eight by the Far East Shipping Company, and a further two by the Sakhalin Shipping Company (WP-107). The Murmansk Shipping Company's fleet includes the Kandalaksha, used in 1995 for the experimental voyage in the NSR organized by SOF.
The SA-15 is 174m long and 24m wide, with a limited draft of 9.0m in the shallow waters of the NSR. In other seas its draft is 10.5m. Built as a ship in the ice-strengthened class, the SA-15 was designed by ULA of the RR. It is equipped with an RO/RO deck and a stern-ramp to discharge cargo directly to fast ice in winter. The ship has a wedge-type icebreaking bow and can continuously break level ice 1m thick. In terms of NSR operations, the SA-15 is designed to navigate unescorted in summer and with an assistance of an Arktika-class icebreaker in winter.
