Ukraine's Militarnyi website on September 19 quoted a Turkish blog as saying that the Eurasian transcontinental country has begun transporting a new floating dock ordered by Moscow across the Black Sea to shipbuilding facilities in the city of Murmansk in northwestern Russia.
Turkish blogger Yörük Işık posted a photo of ships passing through the Bosphorus Strait on his page.
Specifically, on September 18, the Russian floating dock of the FD05 project, built at a Turkish shipyard, crossed the 30-kilometer Bosphorus Strait towards the Black Sea. Published photos showed it being towed by ships of the Turkish Coast Guard – the force that ensures maritime safety in this area.
A floating dock built by Türkiye for a Russian nuclear-powered icebreaker. Photo: Barents Observer
From the Kuzey Star shipyard in Istanbul, the Russian floating dock is heading to Murmansk, where the infrastructure of the Russian shipbuilding company Atomflot, part of the Rosatom Corporation, is located.
This floating dock will be transported from the Black Sea to the Don River, from where it will follow the Volga-Don waterway to the Baltic Sea. Then it will have to pass through the White Sea-Baltic Canal to reach the White Sea and the Barents Sea.
Russian shipbuilding company Atomflot has ordered the FD05 floating dock to serve exclusively Rosatom's Project 22220 nuclear-powered icebreaker fleet, primarily for ship repair work.
The construction contract worth approximately $68 million was signed on June 7, 2021. The floating dock broke ground on March 15, 2022, and was launched in late September 2023.
The design of the floating dock, type NB 110, was developed by the Russian Maritime Engineering Bureau. According to Atomflot, the floating dock has a lifting capacity of 30,000 tons, is 220 meters long, 48 meters wide, has a sliding deck at least 200 meters long, 6 meters high, and can accommodate up to 30 people for 7 days without going ashore.
For normal operation, the pier is equipped with a power plant consisting of four 840 kW diesel generators and one 120 kW emergency diesel generator.
Floating dock NB 110 built by Kuzey Star for Rosatom. Photo: Kuzey Star Shipyard website
The handover of the Russian floating dock of the FD05 project took place later than originally planned. According to the agreement between the two parties, the construction of the dock, including delivery to Murmansk, took 29 months.
But the launch of an 11,350-ton floating dock is a record for the entire Turkish industry. The deal between Rosatom and Kuzey Star came after it became clear that no Russian shipyard could deliver the dock required by the nuclear energy giant, the Norwegian Barents Observer reported.
“The Turkish shipyard has all the necessary capabilities and has built a formidable reputation in the shipbuilding market,” said Mustafa Kashka, then CEO of Atomflot, after signing the deal.
Russia's Project 22220 nuclear-powered icebreaker Yakutia. Photo: Naval News
Atomflot currently has two floating docks. One of them, PD-3, is moored in the port of Murmansk. This dock is used to moor the nuclear icebreaker 50 Let Pobedy and third-party vessels.
The remaining dock, PD-0002, is moored at Atomflot's headquarters and serves the nuclear icebreakers Yamal, Taymyr and Vaygach, according to the company.
Without a new dock, Project 22220 icebreakers can only be repaired in St. Petersburg. Atomflot may need another floating dock in the future. If Russia completes construction of the Rossiya, the first Project 10510 (Lider) icebreaker, the other docks will be too small to repair and maintain this class of ships.
Minh Duc (According to Militarnyi, Barents Observer)
Source: https://www.nguoiduatin.vn/dong-thai-moi-cua-tho-nhi-ky-o-bien-den-204240920205655031.htm
Comment (0)