The Alexandr Obukov, lead ship of a 12700 project series of next generation mine countermeasures vessels, built at St. Petersburg Russia based Sredne-Nevsky Shipyard (part of United Shipbuilding Corp.) commenced shipbuilder's trials, the shipyard said Friday.
The ship propulsion main engines were supplied by domestic manufacturer St. Petersburg based plant "Zvezda". The certified magnetic steel engines will also be supplied to power the serial minesweepers.
Upon completion of this phase the minesweeper will proceed to undergo state acceptance trials.
The shipbuilder will test both vessel performance and her equipment, including on-board high-performance hydroacoustic systems installed on the ship, and on ROVs, integrated bridge system, the main command, the control system of mine countermeasures activities.
The second ship of the series "Georgy Kurbatov" is scheduled for delivery in late 2016. The other two MCMVs are to be launched and commissioned into in the fleet of flminesweeping forces of the Russian Navy by the end 2019. The MCMV design was developed by the Almaz Central Marine Design Bureau.
General characteristics: displacement – about 900 tonnes, length – 60 m, beam – 10 m, speed, full load displacement – 16.5 knots, complement – 44. To destroy mines the ship will use different types of trawls and ROVs.
Sredne-Nevsky Shipyard (SNSZ) is one of the leading shipbuilders in Russia specializing in the construction of next generation fiberglass warships and vessels employing the latest high technologies (low-magnetic steel, aluminum and fiberglass). The shipyard builds missile boats (corvettes), mine ships, patrol ships, work and passenger vessels. Besides, SNSZ offers services in machining, plating, sheet metal processing, fiberglass processing, and degaussing. Over the years, the shipyard has built more than 500 vessels of various purposes for 43 projects for Russian and foreign customers.