A new floating dock is on its way from Istanbul to Murmansk

The floating installation was this week towed from the yard and towards the Turkish straits. Photos show several tugs and support vessels involved in the operation, the Russian version of the Barents Observer reports.

The dock is built for Russian nuclear power company Rosatom and will be used for repair of icebreakers. The contract signed by the companies in 2021 has a value of approximately $69 million, the Kuzey Star informs.

The dock is of the type NB 110. It will be based at Atomflot, the base for nuclear icebreakers in Murmansk. It will primarily serve Rosatom’s new fleet of Project 22220 icebreakers. Russia today has three vessels of the class in operation, and another four are due to follow over the next years.

According to the yard, the floating dock has a lifting capacity of 30,000 tons, a length of 220 meters and a width of 48 meters. It has a slipway deck of at least 200 meters in length and 6 meters in pile height, and will be able to accommodate up to 30 people for 7 days without going ashore.

The delivery comes after the original schedule. According to the agreement between the companies, the construction of the dock, including its delivery to Murmansk, would take 29 months.

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Construction started in March 2022.

The deal between Rosatom and Kuzey Star was made after it became clear that no Russian yard was able to deliver the dock as requested by the nuclear power company.

“The Turkish shipyard has all the necessary competencies and earned a respectable reputation in the shipbuilding market,” said Mustafa Kashka, then CEO of Atomflot, said following his signing of the deal.

Atomflot today has two floating docks. One of them, the PD-3, is stationed in the port of Murmansk. It is used to dock the nuclear icebreaker 50 Let Pobedy and third-party vessels. The other dock, the PD-0002, is stationed at Atomflot’s base and services Yamal, Taymyr and Vaygach nuclear icebreakers, the state company informs.

Without the new dock, the Project 22220 icebreakers can only be repaired in St.Petersburg.

In the future, Atomflot might need yet another floating dock. If Russia manages to complete construction of the Rossiya, the first Project 10510 (Lider) icebreaker, the other docks will be too small for repairs and service.

The Kuzey Star Shipyard is closely engaged in cooperation with Russia. In addition to the NB 110 floating dock, the yard is building also two dual-fuel icebreakers for the Russian state company Rosmorport. The contract that has a value of 18,5 billion rubles (€179 million) was originally awarded to the Russian Onega shipyard but then taken over by the Turkish yard in accordance with the subcontracting principles.