Onega Shipyard launches lead ship of project RSD49
Onega Shipyard on May 20, 2012 launched the 7150dwt lead vessel of a series of multipurpose dry cargo ships of RSD49 project for North-West Shipping Company, Marine Engineering Bureau said.
The RSD49 project newbuilds are being constructed at Nevsky Shipyard. The lead ship was laid down on December 14, 2010, which was floated out on October 29, 2011 and towed to Petrozavodsk-based Onega outfitting dock.
The Volga-Don Max vessels of mixed river-sea sailing are designed for transportation of general and bulk cargoes, including steel, grain, timber, coal, oversized and heavy-lift and dangerous cargoes of classes 1.4S, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.1, 8, 9 by IC IMDG and Annex B of the BC Code in the Caspian Sea and the Mediterranean, Black Sea, Baltic, White and North seas, including sailings around Europe and in the Irish Sea during winter season.
The series vessel (in contrast to other Volga-Don max class ships created by Marine Engineering Bureau) features a 52-m-long middle cargo hold for shipping oversized project cargo on direct Europe - Caspian Sea lane. This should make the vessel operation cost-effective.
The project was designed to CM Ice2 R2 AUT1-C of the Russian Maritime Register of Shipping and meets all the requirements of international conventions, effective as of the vessel’s keel-laying.
Currently, the RSD49 vessels (like its prototype RSD19) are by far the largest of dry cargo ships that satisfy the dimensions of Volga-Don Shipping Canal.
Ship’s main characteristics: sea / river draft – 4.70m / 3.60m, sea / river DWT – 7150t / 4520t; length overall - 139.95 m, breadth overall - 16.70 m, depth - 6.00 m; cargo holds capacity - 10,920 cbm.
Onega Shipyard (Onezhsky Shipbuilding Plant) was founded in 1944. The company is able to build 140-m-long, 16.5-m-long vessels with docking weight of up to 2,300 tons.