ST.PETERSBURG. Sept 7 (Interfax-AVN) - The Baltiysky Zavod shipyard is about to start docking the 50 Let Pobedy icebreaker currently under construction, the shipyard's press service reported on Tuesday.
"Docking of the icebreaker under construction will take place for the first time in the history of domestic shipbuilding. It used to be preceded by several years of the icebreaker's operation and to be performed only at ship-repair facilities in the Murmansk region. It was the operator, not the builder, who ordered docking," the report reads.
The icebreaker was towed to the dock of the Kronshtadt shipyard by three towboats on Tuesday. The towing took four hours.
"The necessity to perform docking on the 50 Let Pobedy nuclear icebreaker was caused by the ship's long construction period. The icebreaker, originally named Ural, was set afloat on December 29, 1993. Its construction was later suspended due to lack of funds. Funding was partially resumed in the late 1990s. The sea transport development directorate and Baltiysky Zavod signed a contract on the ship's completion in February 2003," the report says.
Under the contract, federal budget funding for the icebreaker's completion will amount to 2.5 billion rubles ($85.57 million) in 2003-2005 (820 million rubles ($28.07 million) in 2003, 913 million rubles ($31.25 million) in 2004, and 767 million rubles ($26.25 million) in 2005). In addition, a conference that took place in the Transportation Ministry on August 13, 2004, decided to assign additional 742.3 million rubles ($25.41 million) for the icebreaker's construction, namely 164 million rubles ($5.61 million) in 2005 and 578.3 million rubles ($19.79 million) in 2006.
During the icebreaker's stay in the Kronshtadt shipyard's dock, Baltiysky Zavod experts will check operation of the ship's underwater systems installed in the early 1990s. The most labor-consuming operation is the revision of the stern device, intended for preventing outside water from penetration into the icebreaker hull. It will require disassembly of the screw-propeller and tail-shaft.
The docking will take two months. In addition to Baltiysky Zavod experts, it will involve officials of Finland's Wartsila and other foreign experts.
The 50 Let Pobedy's factory readiness was at 93 percent as of July 1, 2004. The hull, superstructure and tail mast are fully formed, and the main mechanical and electric equipment has been installed.