Admiralty Shipyards launches SAR vessel Igor Belousov
Admiralty Shipyards October 30 hosted an official launching and naming ceremony for the search and rescue ship Igor Belousov, the shipbuilding company said.
The ceremony was attended by Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy, Adm. Viktor Chirkov, President of United Shipbuilding Corporation Andrew Dyachkov and CEO of Admiralty Shipyards Alexander Buzakov.
"Today, we are finalizing the concept development of search and rescue support. And the plan that each fleet will have in its structure a salvage vessel, which will provide a wide range of search and rescue missions, including the task of rescue of submarines crews," said Adm. Viktor Chirkov.
"Today we are launching a unique rescue vessel. We are also building at the shipyard a manned deep submergence rescue vehicle (DSRV) "Bester-1", which will be on board the SAR vessel, and in the first half of the next year will pass all stages of mooring trials," Alexander Buzakov said.
The SAR vessel, ordered for the Russian Ministry of Defense, was laid down on December 2005. The ship was designed to rescue the crews from submerged, disabled submarines (lying on the seafloor or on the surface), as well as for supplying air, energy and life-saving equipment to submarines and surface ships. In addition, the ship can perform search and examination of emergency facilities in a given area, independently or as part of the international maritime rescue units.
Ship’s characteristics: length at DWL - 97.8 m, BWL - 17.2 m, depth amidships - 10.6 m, displacement – 5,037 tons. Seaworthiness: safety at sea - unlimited, during the trips of a DSRV - 3-4 points, of a diving bell - 5 points, maximum speed - 15 knots, cruising range at economic speed - 3500 nm, complement - 96, accommodations for rescued people - 120 (60 - in pressure chambers).
Admiralty Shipyards (Admiralteysky Verfy) is the oldest Russian shipbuilder, founded back in 1704. The company is part of Western Center of Shipbuilding controlled by United Shipbuilding Corporation. JSC Admiralty Shipyards specializes in design, construction and upgrade of civil vessels and warships for the Russian Navy. To date, the Company has built more than 300 submarines (including 41 nuclear-powered subs) and 68 deep submergence vehicles and ROVs.