JSC Zelenodolsk Shipyard is successfully completing the yearly shipbuilding program. According to the yard’s director general Renat I. Mistakhov, the current year has been very fruitful and brought many contracts. Estimated income in 2011 would be RUR 10 bln (in 2010 – RUR 7.8 bln).
Seventy percent of the shipyard’s products are being built for Russian Navy. They are:
– Project 11661K frigate Dagestan which has completed first phase of sea trials in Novorossiysk and test firings of Caliber-NK missile system. It is the first Russian Navy’s surface ship armed with such system comprising several types of high-precision missiles capable to destroy sea and coastal targets at range up to 300 km;
– Project 21980 Grachonok special-purpose boat (serial number 982) passes closing stage of trials in Novorossiysk naval base; another boat is under construction (laid down in May 2011);
– Project 745MB seagoing tug MB-12 built for Northern Fleet has effectively finished mooring and shipyard’s sea trials; only freezeup in the Kuibyshev dam lake hindered completion of state trials;
– three Project 21631 Buyan-M small-size missile ships – Grad Sviyazhsk, Uglich, and Veliky Ustiug – are being constructed on schedule. The lead ship Grad Sviyazhsk will be launched in 2012 and after all trials will join Caspian Flotilla. The shipyard will continue building of such ships. “There will be 8 or 10 ships in the series”, said Mistakhov. “Through recent 10 years, the yard has delivered only four ships to the Navy! So, we had not developed in the military area. Development starts when orders come”, said the director;
– three Project 11661E Gepard 3.9 frigates have been exported to Vietnam; most probably, a contract for other two ships of this project would be tied with Vietnam in 2012;
Except for warships and boats, civilian orders also constitute significant part of the shipyard’s production. They are Project A-45 fast-speed passenger launches, Project RST-25 tankers, etc.
[mappress] Naval Today Staff , December 28, 2011; Image: inoforum