MOSCOW. Sept 9 (Interfax) - The keel of the Afanasy Ivannikov minesweeper of Project 12700 will be laid at the Sredne-Nevsky Shipyard on September 9.
The Russian Defense Ministry said on Monday that the ceremony of laying the keel of the Afanasy Ivannikov minesweeper of Project 12700, to be built for the Russian Navy, will take place at the Sredne-Nevsky Shipyard, an affiliate of the United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC), in St. Petersburg on September 9.
Russian Navy Commander Nikolai Yevmenov will be presiding at the ceremony, the ministry said.
Minesweepers of Project 12700 Alexandrit have a displacement of about 890 tonnes, a length of about 62 meters, a beam of about ten meters, a top speed of about 16 knots, and a crew of 44. The ships have unique, the world's largest monolithic fiberglass hull made by vacuum infusion.