GALLERY: Sovcomflot holds naming ceremony for new icebreaker

Russia’s Sovcomflot (SCF) has held a naming ceremony for a new icebreaking platform supply vessel built by the Arctech Helsinki Shipyard.

SCF said on Monday that the vessel was named Yevgeny Primakov on Saturday, February 3.

The vessel was named after Yevgeny Maksimovich Primakov, a Russian politician, and diplomat who served as Prime Minister of Russia from 1998 to 1999. During his career, he also served as a Foreign Minister, Speaker of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union, and the chief of the intelligence service.

The naming ceremony and raising the flag of the Russian Federation on the vessel took place in Saint Petersburg.

The company said that the Yevgeny Primakov was designed for operations in the difficult ice and navigational conditions of the Far East Sea basin in the Sea of Okhotsk. According to Sovcomflot, the design and construction of the vessel were based on the many years of experience accumulated by the company while working in the Sakhalin-1 and Sakhalin-2 projects.

“The vessel’s design and equipment mean she can effectively ensure 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,” SCF said.

The Yevgeny Primakov will also provide standby search and rescue support all year-round. It will be able to respond promptly to potential emergencies and carry out underwater engineering and repair works where necessary.

The naming ceremony was attended by the Deputy Prime Minister of Russia Dmitry Rogozin, Vice-Governor of Saint Petersburg Sergey Movchan, Deputy Minister of Transport and Head of the Federal Agency for Marine and River Transport Viktor Olersky, Production Director at Sakhalin Energy Ole Myklestad, President of the United Shipbuilding Corporation Alexey Rakhmanov, and President and CEO of Sovcomflot Sergey Frank. Family members of Yevgeny Primakov attended the ceremony as guests of honor.

At the ceremony, Rogozin said: “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 deserves his name.”

Sergey Frank added: “The Far East region has been and remains a priority area for operation of Sovcomflot Group vessels – our company has been consistently expanding its presence there, serving the key energy projects on the Sakhalin shelf.

“The company’s fleet servicing the Sakhalin-1 and Sakhalin-2 projects numbers 20 vessels. Regarding technical equipment, versatility, and power-to-weight ratio, Yevgeny Primakov is one of the best vessels in the company’s fleet. The vessel was named after Yevgeny Primakov […] whose decisions as Prime Minister of Russia largely contributed to the sustainable development of Sovcomflot.”

The vessel is 104.4 meters long, 21 meters wide, has a deadweight of 3,670 tonnes, can accommodate up to 150 people, and is manned by an all-Russian crew of 26 people.

In 2017, Sovcomflot named three icebreaker supply vessels. Namely, the three vessels were commissioned by SCF under a long-term agreement with Sakhalin Energy.

The first was the Gennadiy Nevelskoy, the second was the Stepan Makarov while the latest vessel was the Fedor Ushakov.