Russian Sovcomflot (SCF Group) held a naming ceremony for the new multifunctional icebreaking platform supply vessel ‘Yevgeny Primakov’, in Saint Petersburg, on 3 February. The vessel is designed for operations in the difficult ice and navigational conditions of the Far East Sea Basin (Sea of Okhotsk).
The vessel’s design and equipment enables the safe operation of offshore oil and gas production platforms, including in ice conditions, through preventing the formation of hummocks and heavy ice fields around the platforms, by breaking any surrounding ice formations, said SCF.
The vessel will also provide standby search and rescue support all year-round, responding to potential emergencies, and carry out underwater engineering and repair works where necessary.
SCF believes that deploying such vessels on standby duty in the Sea of Okhotsk, on a permanent basis, contributes significantly to improving environmental safety in the Far East Sea Basin.
In addition, the vessel’s propulsion system, comprised of two Azipod units with a total capacity of 13 MW, ensures high levels of manoeuvrability, and allows her to sail through ice up to 1.5 m thick with a snow cover of up to 20 cm.
“Today’s event is important for preserving the memory of Yevgeny Primakov. The vessel will be operating in difficult conditions, including ice and low temperatures, and will be overcoming weather and sea challenges and storms – all this was in Primakov’s character. A simple vessel could hardly bear the name of Primakov, but such a vessel that will serve Russia definitely deserves his name,” said Russian Deputy Prime Minster Dmitry Rogozin.
