RS Class: New Lead Icebreaker Launched in Vyborg

The official ceremony of launching a lead icebreaker Vladivostok of a new generation project 21900 took place on April 29, 2014 at ОАО Vyborg Shipyard. The ship is built to the class of Russian Maritime Register of Shipping (RS): KM Icebreaker6 [2] AUT1-ICS FF2 BWM EPP ECO HELIDECK Special purpose ship. The construction is conducted under the Federal Target Program ‘Development of the Transport System of Russia (2010 - 2015)’.

Participating in the launching ceremony were representatives of the Federal Marine and River Transport Agency, FGUP Rosmorport, Government of the Leningrad Region, Russian Maritime Register of Shipping. Sergey Shishkin, head of RS Classification Division, handed over the RS Certificate of Ship Preparedness for Launching to Alexander Soloviyev, Director of the Vyborg Shipyard. On behalf of RS, Sergey Shishkin congratulated the management and staff of the yard on the successive completion of one of the most important stages in the ship construction. According to S. Shishkin, the new ship is the next step as compared to the icebreakers of the Moskva and Sankt-Peterburg series. Project 21900 М ships have higher performance characteristics taking into consideration the service experience of previous icebreaker projects when ensuring icebreaker escort during winter navigation in the Gulf of Finland.

The new icebreaker is a double decker equipped with a helideck, about 10 000 t displacement, two azimuth thrusters and thrust unit, capable of overriding ice up to 1.5 metres thick. It is designed for large ship escort, towage, fire extinguishing on board floating facilities and other structures, cargo transportation and assistance to ships in distress.

Main particulars:

• length - 119.8 m;
• breadth - 27.5 m;
• depth - 12.4 m;
• deadweight - 5,340 t;
• gross tonnage - 11,649.

RS experts exercise the icebreaker construction survey in accordance with the requirements of RS Rules and statutory requirements, carry out the surveys of the hull, machinery, electrical and automation equipment. Based on the surveys as well as on mooring tests and sea trials, an RS classification certificate and a set of statutory certificates will be issued for the ship.

The series planned for construction to RS class will include three ships of the project. The first one will be named Vladivostok and the two successive ones Murmansk and Novorossiysk accordingly. The pilot ship delivery to the customer is planned for May 2015.

Reference: ОАО Vyborg Shipyard is one of the major shipyards in the north-western region of Russia, a yard with a more than sixty years of work experience in constructing civil and naval ships.