On August 14, State Commission accepted delivery of the special purpose tugboat «Belukha» of project 16609 (building No 629) built Pella shipyard (Leningrad region) for the Main Administration of Deepwater Research of RF Ministry of Defense, the shipyard says in its press release.
This year the tugboat will be delivered to the State Customer and put into operation within the Baltic Fleet Navy.
The tugboat is intended for towing and berthing operations in harbor and coastal areas which comply with R2 navigation area (not more than 100 miles from place of shelter), performing of escort operations at the speed of 10 knots, refloating of ships and vessels, fire fighting operations at floating and shore objects, oil and petroleum content products, cargo transportation, ice breaking and rescue and special purpose operations as well.
Ship's general characteristics: LOA – 28.5 m, breadth overall – 9.5 m, draft – 4.3 m, operational speed – nearly 12 knots, RS class notation - KM Arc4 R2 Аut1 FF3 WS Tug, power - 2х1500 kW at 1,600 rpm, Cat 3512B.
SC Pella Shipyard based in Russia’s Leningrad region was founded in 1950. In 1992 Pella was privatized as Pella Holding Co. comprising the head office and several subsidiaries. The shipbuilding firm specializes in building tractor tugs with rated power of 1,000hp to 5,000hp, push boats, escort tugs, pilot boats and SAR boats for Russian customers and for foreign customers.