Fully laden, the vessels drew 6.3 metres (20.7 ft) of water and had a displacement of 3,350 tonnes (3,300 long tons).

Their three 1,800-horsepower (1,300 kW) 10-cylinder 13D100 two-stroke opposed-piston diesel engines were coupled to generators that powered electric propulsion motors driving two propellers in the stern and a third one in the bow.

[2] The second of two Project 97D icebreakers was laid down at Admiralty Shipyard in Leningrad on 3 January 1967, launched on 15 June 1967, and delivered on 30 December 1967.

The vessel was named after the Russian late 19th and early 20th century Arctic explorer Georgy Yakovlevich Sedov (1877–1914).

The icebreaker lost three propeller blades and a rudder, and had to be towed to Pevek by the SA-15 type Arctic freighter Bratsk.