On 21 October 2021, Okskaya Shipyard held a keel-laying ceremony for the lead dry cargo carrier of RSD71 Project series. The ship will be built under a contract with Volga Shipping Company which launches a large-scale programme on modernization of its fleet, reports IAA PortNews correspondent.
The first sea-and-river going vessel of the new design will be named Konstruktor Yegorov (Naval Architect Yegorov) after the founder of Marine Engineering Bureau, D.Eng.Sc. Gennady Yegorov, national shipbuilding ideologist, with whom Volga Shipping Company had long and fruitful partnership on implementation of numerous joint projects.
“Symbolically, this vessel is intended for the oldest inland shipping company and I am sure that our river industry will develop successfully with such major players. Yegorov was my close friend with whom we discussed and implemented various projects”, said Konstantin Anisimov, Deputy Head of Rosmorrechflot.
“We will make every effort to deliver all the three ships in 2022, not two as it was planned initially, - Vladimir Kulikov, General Director of Okskaya Shipyard, said at the keel-laying ceremony. – Gennady Yegorov was a talented naval engineer, trend-setter both in Russia and in many other countries. Okskaya Shipyard alone has built 69 ships to Yegorov’s design with 19 ships under construction.”
Project RSD71 has been under development by Volga Shipping Company and Marine Engineering Bureau for the several recent years.
Yuri Gilts, General Director of Volga Shipping Company, commented: “We are proud to have the lead ship, the flagship, to be named after Gennady Yegorov. That design was developed through our joint efforts and long discussions. We need at least 20 ships of that design. It is in high demand and it properly fits our cargo base”.
Aleksandr Yegorov thanked Volga Shipping Company for the proposal to name the new ship after his father. “Hopefully, the new dry cargo carrier will pursue the philosophy we implied together with the customer”. He reminded that the new design foresees the longest and the largest hold among all river going ships existing today.
RSD71 is a new domestically developed design of sea-and-river going ships. The project will be first implemented in the Nizhny Novgorod Region, by Okskaya Shipyard. Project RSD71 was designed specially for the cargo base of Volga Shipping Company. The key advantage of RSD71 ships is their universality which guarantees efficient operation in the sea with a deadweight of 7,170 tonnes and on inland routes with a deadweight of 4,380 tonnes.
The new design meets all the recent environmental standards including Tier III compliance. It also includes the most advanced systems of automation and assistance to navigation. The shipping company plans to obtain up to 20 ships of that design.
Ships of Project RSD71 are designed for sea and mixed sea-and-river navigation for transportation of general and bulk cargo including grain, packaged and round timber, scrap metal, bunches and rolls of metal, large-sized and heavy-lift cargoes, coal, dangerous goods of 1.4S, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.1, 8, 9 classes of IMDG Code and cargoes of category B of IMSBC Code.
Key particulars: LOA – 119.96 m, BOA – 16.98 m, depth - 6 m, sea/river draft – 4.90 / 3.60 m, sea/river deadweight – 7,173/4,395 t, endurance - 20 days, cargo hold capacity – 9,063 cbm.
Established in 1843, Volga Shipping Company is one of Russia’s largest shipping enterprises. The fleet under operational management of the company numbers about 250 units with a total deadweight exceeding 1.4 million tonnes. In 2020, the company transported 14.5 million tonnes of cargo.
The range of services offered by Volga Shipping Company includes: transportation of dry bulk, general, liquid bulk and project cargo along inland water ways of Russia by river-sea and international routes.
Gennady Yegorov, D.Eng.Sc., Russia’s leading naval architect, contemporary shipbuilding philosopher, passed away on 30 May 2021.
Photos by IAA PortNews
