The first multifunctional supply vessel Ice breaker 7 – «Кaterina Velikaya» was launched from the slipway at Zvezda Shipbuilding Complex.
This is the lead vessel of a series of four vessels for Rosneft. President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin took part in its keel laying on the slipway.
In parallel, three other vessels of the series are under construction at the shipyard.
The launch from the slipway marked the completion of the slipway stage of construction: assembly of the vessel's hull and outfitting with systems and mechanisms. One of the final operations of the stage was the installation of azimuth thrusters – a key element of the vessel's electric propulsion system, which ensures its high running and maneuvering qualities. Two high ice - class columns with a capacity of 7.5 MW were installed on the IBSV. The weight of each high ice-class column – 130 tons, the height- 6 m, the length - 10 meters. These azimuth thrusters will allow the vessel to overcome the Arctic ice with thickness of more than 1.5 m.
The production of azimuth thrusters is localized in Bolshoi Kamen at the joint venture of Rosneft and GE company - LLC «Manufacturing Plant of VRK «Sapphire».
The solemn launching ceremony was held on the open final assembly area of Zvezda, SSK with the participation of the management and the staff of the shipyard, representatives of the buyer, the government of Primorsky Krai and the town of Bolshoi Kamen, partnership organizations.
In the future, the vessel will be towed to the outfitting quay, where the IBSV will have to pass the mooring stage of testing: works on checking and adjusting the systems and the vessel’s equipment for its intended purpose for further preparation for sea trials.
The multifunctional Ice breaker supply vessels are outfitted with lots of equipment. Their length is 106 m, the width is 22 m, the deadweight is 5100 tons. The vessels are designed for an unrestricted navigation area, including in difficult climatic conditions, and perform a variety of operations: freight transportation to off-shore facilities, icebreaking operations, control of ice condition, rescue, support tracking, firefighting, towing of large objects, transportation of containers on the main deck.
