NIBULON says it is reviving passenger shipping in Ukraine. On November 11, 2016, residents of Mykolaiv witnessed a spectacular but unfortunately forgotten performance.
The passenger hydrofoil (called “rocket”) under the Ukrainian flag and with a proud name “NIBULON EXPRESS-2” operated on the calm expanse of the Southern Buh River at high speed.
Spectacular maneuvers of the new unit took place as part of the sea trials. In fact, the second “NIBULON EXPRESS-1” vessel will undergo the similar trials in a few days.
On November 11, the specialists:
─ defined speed and maneuverability of the vessel; in particular, it demonstrated the cruising speed of 65 km per hour;
─ tested the hull, the vessel’s stability, stability of its main engine, hull systems, gears, and speed characteristics;
─ tested stock and bow thruster, radionavigation and navigation equipment, equipment for marine communication, sound and flashing light signals;
─ tested anchor, ventilation and air conditioning systems.
Based on the trials, the committee, headed by NIBULON’s shipping company director, a master mariner Yevhen Ihnatenko who has operated the hydrofoil, became sure that the vessel is ready for operation. This means that the vessel will receive a correspondent class of the Shipping Register of Ukraine soon.
At the end of the week both passenger vessels will start operation. There will be a photo report.
It should be noted that two vessels were added to NIBULON’s cargo fleet as part of the complex investment project to revive passenger and cargo transportation along the Dnipro River and the Southern Buh River.
The company has already made a lot of important steps to solve the problem, in particular as regards the main waterway of Mykolaiv region. Besides two new passenger vessels in cargo fleet, it is worth mentioning the following steps:
─ we have built our own cargo fleet that numbers 53 units with total deadweight of more than 156 thousand tons; it is the second largest fleet in Ukraine that was built at NIBULON shipbuilding and repair yard;
─ we created 600 workplaces for shipbuilders and 350 workplaces at shipping company;
─ we dredged navigable area of 134 km of the Southern Buh River at our own expense, using our machinery, and without state support. Due to NIBULON, the navigation along the Southern Buh River is revived for the first time in 25 years;
─ the company has already broken the record of the Soviet period in volumes of cargo transported along the Southern Buh River (50 thousand tons of grain cargoes per year). In 2016, the company transported 300 thousand tons of grain and removed 12.5 thousand trucks from the highways;
─ NIBULON designed, built and installed 11 mooring buoys worth UAH 2 million on the Dnipro River and on the Southern Buh River;
─ the company built 2 transshipment terminals along the Southern Buh River, having provided 1.5 thousand builders with work.
NIBULON proves that Ukraine is a maritime country.