Sredne Nevsky Shipyard launches new generation minesweeper for the Navy

St. Petersburg, Russia based Sredne-Nevsky Shipyard (part of Russia’s United Shipbuilding Corp.) today held a launching of the Alexander Obukhov, flagship of a series of JSC Almaz-designed new generation coastal minesweepers of project 12700, the shipbuilder said Friday in a press release.
The ship was named after the Hero of the Soviet Union A. A. Obukhov (1917-2009). The vessel is scheduled for delivery to the Russian Navy in Q4, 2015. The minesweeper will enter service with the Northern Fleet.

Ship's displacement - 890 tonnes, LOA - 61 m, beam - 10 m, full load displacement speed - 16.5 knots, complement – 44. The ship can clear a minefield using different types of sweeps and also hunt and destroy mines with unmanned ROVs.

In April 2014 the shipyard signed a contract with the Russian Ministry of Defence for the construction of three 12700-design ships. The vessels are scheduled for delivery between 2016 and 2018.

OJSC Sredne-Nevsky Shipyard was created in 1912 as Ust-Izhorsky Shipyard. The shipyard has built over 500 warships and vessels of 43 designs for the Russian Navy and foreign customers. The company specializes in building warships and civil vessels manufactured of nonmagnetic steel, aluminum and fiberglass: corvettes, mine sweepers, coastal patrol boats, workboats and passenger vessels.