RUB 39.7 billion will be allocated for the construction of R/V Ivan Frolov in 2023–2028
Admiralteiskie Verfi JSC (a shipyard of United Shipbuilding Corporation, USC) and the Federal Service for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring (Roshydromet) have signed a contract on construction of R/V Ivan Frolov. The ship intended for implementation of Russia’s Antarctic programme will be operated by the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute (AARI)m says USC.
The contract was signed by Igor Shumakov, Head of Roshydromet, and Andry Veselov, Acting General Director of Admiralteiskie Verfi, in the presence of Aleksandr Kozlov, Minister of Natural Resources and Ecology of the Russian Federation, and Aleksey Rakhmanov, General Director of USC.
R/V Ivan Frolov will be of Arc7 ice class. It will have a length of 165 м, displacement of about 25 thousand tonnes, deadweight of about 9.2 thousand tonnes. The ship will accommodate 20 research laboratories and a helideck for Mi-8, Mi-38 or Ка-32. The number of crewmembers and special personnel will make about 240 people. The ship is to replace R/V Akademik Feodorov, the flagship of the polar fleet built in 1987, and to serve for at least 30 years.
The ship will be named after Ivan Frolov, Russian polar researcher, Director of Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute (AARI).
R/V Ivan Frolov will be the fourth research vessel in the fleet of AARI. It will be used for marine scientific research, supplying of Arctic and Antartic stations, rotation of their personnel. The scientific/expedition fleet of AARI currenty numbers three research vessels - R/V Akademik Feodorov, R/V Akademik Tryoshnikov and the one-of-a-kind Severny Polyus (North Pole), a scientific-research platform with an endurance of two years able to conduct geological, acoustic, geophysical and oceanographic observations in the high latitudes of the Arctic Ocean.
In November 2022, Aleksandr Kozlov, Minister of Natural Resources, said that R/V Ivan Frolov intended for the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute (AARI) would be laid down in 2023. In late December 2022, an order was signed by RF Government on allocation of RUB 39.7 billion for the construction of R/V Ivan Frolov in 2023–2028.
Admiralteiskie Verfi JSC (Admiralty Shipyards) is a key enterprise of shipbuilding, a centre of conventional submarine building of Russia. The Company’s staff exceeds 8,000 persons. The shipyard is affiliated with the United Shipbuilding Corporation. Two series of submarines are under construction now for RF Navy as well as a series of patrol icebreakers for RF Navy and a series of large shipping trawlers.
United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC OJSC) is the largest shipbuilding company in Russia. It was set up in 2007 with 100% federal ownership. The holding comprises about 40 companies and organizations (major shipbuilding and shiprepairing companies as well as leading design bureaus). Currently, USC consolidates the bulk of the domestic shipbuilding complex. The Russian market is the main focus of the state corporation though it also exports its products to 20 countries worldwide.
Photos from the Telegram channel of USC
