Bolshoy Kamen, Russia based Shipbuilding Complex Zvezda (Zvezda Shipyard, part of United Shipbuilding Corporation) say it has held an official keel laying ceremony for the third Aframax tanker at its outdoor outfitting dock.
The ceremony was attended by representatives of Rosnefteflot JSC and the Far Eastern branch of RS as well as the employees of the shipyard.
According to Zvezda Shipyard Director Sergey Tseluiko, all vessels will be built and delivered to the customers as scheduled with works to be performed on a high professional level.
The 114,000DWT tanker is the third in a series of ten Aframax tankers ordered by Rosnefteflot for the transportation of crude oil and oil products. The ship’s main and auxiliary power plants can run on environmentally clean fuel – liquefied natural gas (LNG). The vessels have a length of 250 m and a breadth of 44 m.
Zvezda Shipbuilding Complex located in Bolshoy Kamen, Primorsky Region, is being created on the base of Zvezda Far-Eastern Plant by a consortium of Rosneftegaz, Rosneft and Gazprombank. The shipbuilding complex project includes the construction of facilities that have already been commissioned: a covered shipbuilding hall, a painting shop, and an outdoor heavy outfitting dock. Besides, the Zvezda Shipyard project second phase includes the construction of a heavy dry dock, full-cycle production shops, and halls for construction of offshore structures. By the time the project is completed, the shipyard's capacity for metal processing will be more than 330 thousand tons per year.
The product line of Zvezda will include vessels with a displacement of up to 350 thousand tons, elements of offshore platforms, ice-class vessels, commercial vessels for cargo transportation, special vessels and other types of marine equipment of any complexity, characteristics and purposes, including equipment that was previously not produced in Russia due to the lack of necessary launching and hydraulic structures. Totally, the production programme of Zvezda foresees the construction of 178 vessels and offshore facilities of different types by 2035.
As of today, the Zvezda order book includes 39 vessels with an option for 59 units.