Russia’s Pacific Fleet to get latest tugboat by year-end
Russian sea-going tugboat of the latest 23470 series. TASS archive/Yury Belinsky. Sketched by the Pan Pacific Agency.
SEVASTOPOL, Feb 22, 2020, TASS. The second sea-going tugboat of the latest 23470 series will be delivered to the Pacific Fleet before the end of the year, Head and Chief Designer of the Baltsudoproyekt Central Design Bureau (the tugboat’s developer) Andrei Obukhov told TASS on Friday.
As was reported earlier, the lead tugboat Sergei Balk entered service with Russia’s Black Sea Fleet on February 21.
“[The second tugboat] is now undergoing shipbuilders’ docking trials that will give way to sea trials, which the vessel is to complete in July and leave for Murmansk. After that, it will depart from Murmansk to sail along the Northern Sea Route to the Pacific Fleet in the Far East,” he said.
Three more tugboats of this series are under construction at the Yaroslavl Shipyard, the chief designer noted, without specifying the timeframe of putting them afloat. The head of the Baltsudoproyekt Central Design Bureau added that the contract for designing the latest tugboats for the Russian Navy had been concluded in 2014.
CEO of the Yaroslavl Shipyard Svetlana Chekalova told TASS that the vessels under construction would be delivered to the Black Sea, Northern and Pacific Fleets.
Project 23470 tugboats
Project 23470 sea-going ships are designed to tow vessels in ice-covered and ice-free waters, assist them within port areas and in mooring, provide escort operations at sea, extinguish fires on floating platforms and at coastal facilities and fuel burning on the water surface, and also to refloat ships and vessels.
The new tugs have a lifting capacity of 200 tonnes and an operating range of 300 nautical miles and their sea endurance is 30 days.
According to the chief designer, specialists of the Baltsudoproyekt Central Design Bureau and the Yaroslavl Shipyard faced an uneasy task of installing equipment unprecedented for these types of vessels in Russia within the tugboat’s limited dimensions. For this purpose, solutions already available in world practice were applied, among other. However, due to the sanctions imposed by some countries against Russia, they were adapted in a way to use domestic equipment, he clarified.
As a result, a Project 23470 tugboat can operate in any area of the World Ocean at temperatures ranging from mines 45 degrees to plus 50 degrees Celsius, features high maneuverable capabilities and towing characteristics and is comfortable for the crew. The vessels of this type feature the integrated powerplant that will prevent a blackout in case of malfunctions, powerful lifting mechanisms and a helicopter pad to receive rescue and specialized shipborne helicopters.
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