On 31 August 2023, Navashino, Nizhny Novgorod Region based Okskaya Sudoverf shipyard launched the fifth unit in the series of five salvage tugs of NE 025 design intended for Marine Rescue Service (MRS), says MRS.
The ceremony has been attended by Dmitry Golovach, Head of Ship Construction Supervision Department, Marine Rescue Service. Elvira Bukhoina, representative of Okskaya Sudoverf shipyard took part in the ceremony as the ship’s godmother.
In December 2021, Okskaya Sudoverf shipyard held the keel-laying ceremony for five sea-going firefighting salvage tugs NE 025 series for Marine Rescue Service. The Timan, lead tugboat in the series, was launched in December 2022; the Tepsey, the Pechak and the Uzon were launched in April, June and July 2023, respectively. Two tugboats will be registered in Murmansk, two – in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. The Favor will be registered in the port of Arkhangelsk.
The outfitting of the five launched ships is underway at the berth of the shipyard. According to the contract, Okskaya Sudoverf is to deliver the ships to Marine Rescue Service in 2023.
It is the first time when Marine Rescue Service acts as the state customer for ships it will operate in the future. The ships are to be operated on the lanes of the Northern Sea Route. The construction of the series is foreseen by the Plan for the Development of the Northern Sea Route until 2035 and the federal project “Northern Sea Route” foreseen by the Comprehensive Plan for Modernization and Expansion of Core Infrastructure (CPMI) until 2024.
The NE025 tug was designed by Nordic Engineering under the order of Marine Rescue Service. The tug is intended for towing non-self-propelled crafts, installation and removing aids to navigation marks, for handling anchors, transportation of cargo on deck, assistance to dredging fleet operation and to hydraulic engineering works, for response to oil spills with deployment of equipment for clean-up operation without entering an oil slick, for participation in extinguishing fires.
Among the advantages of the NE025 are optimized design solutions. The bulk of equipment foreseen by the design is domestically produced. The tug design is versatile as it can easily be modified with different capabilities to perform a wide range of tasks and meet the demand for vessels of this class to upgrade Russia’s rescue fleet.
Key particulars of NE025 ships: LOA: 29.6 m; beam: 9.5 m; depth - 3.3 m; draft - 2.40 m; main engine rated power - 746 kW, crew - 8. Class notation KM ⍟ Arc4 (hull, machinery) R1 AUT3 FF3WS Tug.