Dry cargo carrier Neva-Leader 7 with deadweight of 7,150 t built by Nevsky Shipyard LLC for North-Western Shipping Company set off for sea trials on December 7, 2013, the shipyard announced.
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 line. 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.
Currently, the RSD49 project vessels (like predecessors of Project RSD19) are by far the largest dry cargo ships that satisfy the dimensions of Volga-Don Shipping Canal.
Ship’s general characteristics: length overall - 139.95 m, breadth overall - 16.70 m, sea / river draft – 4.7m / 3.6m, sea / river DWT – 7154t / 4520t; m; cargo holds capacity - 10,920 cbm, operational speed – 11.5 knots, endurance – 20 days, crew – 10.
Nevsky Shipyard LLC - one of the oldest enterprises of water transport in the northwest of Russia, is situated 40 km away from Saint Petersburg, in Shliesselburg. It started shipbuilding in 1952. Nevsky Shipyard builds sea-going and river vessels of various types and purposes and provides all kinds of ship repair. The Shipyard’s slipway allows launching and lifting for repair of 140-m-long vessels with dock weight of up to 3,000 tonnes.
North-Western Shipping Company is the largest carrier in Russia’s water transport system, specializing in shipping import / export general cargo, bulk and loose dry cargo, tugging of oversized cargo and vessels. The company’s fleet comprises about 105 cargo ships of total DWT 350,000 tonnes, including 84 mixed-sailing "river-sea” vessels, 6 barges, 7 tugs and 3 auxiliary ships. The NWS Company transports 6 million tonnes of different cargo a year. The Company is a member of VBTH, a shipping division of UCL Holding (majority owner of VBTH), consolidating also a number of Russian rail, stevedoring and logistics assets. The division also includes Volga and Western Company, several cruise and shipbuilding companies.