On 17 June 2019, East-Siberian Inland Navigation Company (ESINC) launched a unique bunkering tanker of Project RT37 for the Baikal lake. The ship ordered by FGI Rechvodput is being built for FBI “Administration of Baikal-Angara IWW Basin” under the contract dated 25 December 2017, says Marine Engineering Bureau, the ship designer.
RT37 ship is a self-propelled bunkering tanker of Russian River Register’s M 3.0 (ice 30) A class. It is an eco-class vessel able to collect oily and waste waters as well as dry garbage. The ship is equipped with treatment plants.
LOA – 51.60 m, BOA – 10.23 m, depth – 2.60 m, deadweight – about 280 t with draft of 1.8 m.
Capacity of diesel fuel tanks - 82 cbm, cargo tanks for oil - 17 cbm, sewage tanks - 59 cbm, oily water tanks - 25 cbm, sludge tanks – 2.1 cbm.
Speed with two main engines (261 kW each) - 16 km/h. Crew/places – 7/9.
Designed by the Marine Engineering Bureau on the basis of already built ships RT-18 and RT-29, this vessel has got the highest river class - M, provided the draught of 1.80 m.
Detailed design was developed by Nizhny Novgorod based GCPKB. According to GCPKB engineers, it is a "tanker-plant", not only collecting wastes, but also performing the treatment and fueling the serviced vessels. As of today, oily and waste waters on the Baikal lake are only collected by Samotlor facility operated by ESINC.
According to regional authorities, more than 7,000 small-size vessels are registered on the Baikal today. During the navigation period Samotlor accepts about 700-800 tonnes of oily waters which is not sufficient to meet the environment requirements. Besides, Samotlor is located quite far from the northern part of the lake where discharge of bilge and sewage waters is not under control. Most of ships According to some estimates, 160 to 400 tonnes of oil products and waste water enters the Baikal annually. The new eco-ship will allow to drastically reduce the volume of oil-containing products, waste water and garbage contaminating the lake.
The main function of the vessel is to accept from shore, transport, and to unload on shore or to another ship different oil products (with a flash point from above 60°C), diesel fuel, and lubricating oils with viscosity of up to 50 cSt at 50°C. But the vessel, named by its designing team as a "tanker-plant", not only loads the wastes, but also performs the treatment. The ship will also provide reception, cleaning or transportation to the place processing of oily water and sewage water, and dry garbage.
The RT37 tanker is designed to operate in waves up to 3 meters high with 3% occurrence.
Endurance (fuel, oil, food) – 15 days. Endurance (water) - 17 days. Dry garbage can be placed on the main deck in 37 containers (0.25 cbm each).
The degree of purification ensured by the ship is sufficient for discharge into municipal sewage lines.
The lead ship of Project RT37 was laid down in Irkutsk on 5 April 2018.