OREANDA-NEWS. October 20, 2009. The naming ceremony for a new tug ordered by Sovcomflot (SCF) Group took place at the Leningrad Shipbuilding Yard “Pella” (City of Otradnoye, Leningrad Region) on 15 October 2009. The delivery of this vessel is part of the Group’s strategy to develop its terminals management business, by providing port, salvage and environmental protection vessels.

The solemn ceremony, which took place at the Pella yard, was attended by SCF Group senior management, Russian Maritime Register of Shipping representatives, and the management of the Pella yard and the Port of Ust-Luga.

The new vessel is named after a Russian epic hero – Radomir. This tug is the first in the series of four ships, ordered by the Group, to facilitate mooring operations in the Russian ports of the Baltic Sea. The new tugs will be registered in the Russian Maritime Register of Shipping, with St. Petersburg as their port of registry. The vessels will all fly the flag of the Russian Federation.

The new tug meets all the requirements of the relevant international conventions and the leading classification societies. The ships of this project are modern, ice-classed (Arc 4), highly manoeuvrable tugs of [with engine power of] approximately three thousand kW, equipped with Azimuth thrusters and with a bollard pull of 47 tonnes. These vessels have been designed to operate in the climate conditions of the Gulf of Finland in the Baltic Sea. The tugs are equipped with an external fire fighting system and are capable of escorting large ocean-going tankers.

Speaking at the ceremony, Alexander Nemenko, Director of Terminal Infrastructure & Logistics Development Department, Sovcomflot, praised the ‘Pella’ shipyard for delivering a very high specification vessel on time and to budget.

Oleg Glukhov, Harbour Master of the Port of Ust-Luga, said that taking into account the tugs’ equipment level, “they will be included in the Shipboard Marine Pollution Emergency Plans (SOPEP) of the port and in the SOPEP of the oil terminal. Besides the mooring services for the tankers, these ships will be used to fight oil spills, to save life at sea and will participate in salvage operations to rescue ships in distress”.

The expansion of the salvage and specialized fleet with new modern vessels capable of providing for safety of navigation in sea ports, is an important element of the implementation of tasks envisaged by the sub-programme “Maritime Transport” within the Federal programme “Development of the Transport System of the Russian Federation (2010-2015)”.

Radomir is the sixth tug delivered to SCF Group in 2009. Three tugs – Kapitan Avdyukov, Kapitan Popov and Kapitan Reutov – are operating in the Kola Bay, facilitating safe mooring operations at the Belokamenka FSO. Two tugs – Sadko and Stavr – are operating in the Russian ports of the Baltic Sea., By the end of 2009 year the Group will take delivery of the second similar tug – Ratibor – and in 2010 a further two tugs. This is a clear example of the developing cooperation between SCF Group and the shipbuilding yards of St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region.