The delivery of diesel-electric icebreaker Viktor Chernomyrdin which is under construction on the Admiralteiskie Verfi shipyard in Saint-Petersburg (a company of United Shipbuilding Corporation) can be postponed because of the fire, USC President Aleksey Rakhmanov told journalists. According to him, the fire damaged imported equipment which can cause the delivery delay.
“Very much imported equipment, supply time is 3.5-4 months. Anyway, we will certainly deliver the ship to the customer in 2019 but the question is how fast all the equipment is replaced. For example, waste water filtration system was from America. I am afraid, it will not be sold to us in the current situation. We will look for a replacement in Korea, in Europe”, said Aleksey Rakhmanov.
He emphasized that sea trials of the icebreaker were scheduled for the end of 2018. Now, they are to be postponed to the first quarter of 2019.
The Viktor Chernomyrdin icebreaker has been under construction from October 2012.