St. Petersburg, Russia based Baltic Shipyard-Shipbuilding has commenced towing of a stern section of the hull of the second Mustral-class Russian Landing Helicopter Dock “Sevastopol” to France, a spokesperson for United Shipbuilding Corp. said, ITAR-TASS reports. The hull section towing was scheduled to begin in early July.
Alexey Kravchenko said the section will be towed to STX France's Saint-Nazaire shipyard for assembly of the hull's stern and bow sections.
"The helicopter carrier's launching is scheduled for October 2014. After that the ship will be delivered for retrofitting to Russia, tailored to the requirements of the Russian Navy and will be delivered to the Navy in fall, 2015," the spokesperson said.
The Mistral-class LHD displacement is 21,000 tonnes; LOA - 210 meters; speed - 18 knots; cruising range - 20,000 miles; complement - 160, troops - 450 marines, if needed. The ship can deploy a fleet of 16 helicopters including six on the helipad. According to Russian Navy's plans, each Mistral-class ship will carry eight Ka-52K and eight Ka-29 helicopters on board.
Russia and France signed a contract for two French-built Mistral-class helicopter carriers in June 2011. The first Mistral-class ship (Vladivostok) was laid down in Saint Nazaire on February 1. The ship is to join the RF Navy in 2014.
Baltiysky Zavod OJSC specializes in the construction of Class 1 surface crafts, ice class vessels with nuclear and diesel-electric propulsion units, nuclear floating energy units, floating distilling plants. The shipyard was set up in 1856. In its history Baltiysky Zavod which had built over 600 ships and vessels and was privatized several times and returned to state control when financial problems arose. In late 2011, the shipyard once more fell under the control of the state represented by the United Shipbuilding Corporation. To preserve the staff and the competence of the shipyard, USC founded Baltiysky Zavod – Sudostroyeniye LLC. The Backlog of orders of Baltiysky Zavod-Sudostroyeniye LLC is currently valued at about RUB 60 bln. The largest orders are: 60-MWt nuclear icebreaker, 25-MWt diesel-electric icebreaker, floating power unit of the world’s first floating nuclear heat and power plant.
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