Although we are already accustomed to the fact that the Russian shipbuilding industry does not make us very happy, some news from the shipbuilding "fronts" still set us in an optimistic mood. And one of the main generators of such news recently has become the seaside shipbuilding complex "Zvezda", located in the city of Bolshoy Kamen.
Just a few days ago, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Oleg Ryazantsev announced that Zvezda would sign 60 contracts for the construction of new ships in the next five months. And this despite the fact that the portfolio of orders of this enterprise already contains 26 contracts - not potential, but quite real, for which payments are already being made, work is underway, and so on.
True, Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov voiced a slightly different figure:
Zvezda now has 118 contracts - 118 potential ships to be built. Basically, these are large-scale large-scale gas carriers, supply vessels (with a carrying capacity. - Auth.) Up to 100 thousand tons.
Probably, this discrepancy is due to the fact that a contract can be concluded both for one vessel and for a whole series at once. Therefore, it will probably be more correct to count not contracts, but the number of ordered ships. And here the figure 118, and in relation to ships with a carrying capacity of up to 100 thousand tons, causes legitimate respect.
Also these days, another important event took place at the shipyard - the Chinese partners handed over a floating dock to Zvezda, which is necessary for the completion of some ships. It will allow working with objects up to 300 meters long, and this is the lion's share of all projects being implemented there.
And by the end of 2019, it is planned to complete the construction of the largest dry dock in Russia in Bolshoy Kamen. After the completion of this work, it will be possible to build truly huge ships, up to 485 meters long. Currently, there are almost no larger ships in the world, and what we have can be counted literally on one hand.
The most powerful Goliath crane is installed at the shipyard. A huge colossus weighing 4,000 tons is capable of lifting a cargo weighing 1200 tons, which greatly simplifies the assembly process, literally "making up" a ship under construction from almost ready-made blocks. There are also "small" taps. Although it is difficult to say whether this word is suitable for the Ural giants, designed for 320 tons of payload.
In general, the technical and technological state of the enterprise does not cause any particular complaints now. And this was one of the reasons that it seems that the atomic icebreaker "Leader" or even a whole series of such ships will be built on the "Zvezda". Although with the "Leader", of course, everything is not very simple. But this is a topic for another conversation.
In general, you need to understand that the shipyard under construction (and already operating) is not a pure "remake" that was erected on the shore of the first bay that came across. Even before the start of this ambitious project, the Zvezda shipyard was the largest ship repair company in the Far East. Moreover, he specialized in servicing ships of the Pacific Fleet, including surface and nuclear powered submarines. For this reason, even in the post-Soviet years, the city of Bolshoy Kamen was a closed administrative-territorial entity (ZATO), and visiting it was not so easy.
That is, in this case, we have a full set of necessary competencies - both traditional and acquired. And it is very likely that as a result Russia will get a really powerful shipbuilding center, both technical, and technological, and scientific components of which will meet the most advanced requirements.
The main activity of the Primorsky shipyard at the moment is the construction of tankers. These are oil tankers and gas carriers, both in the usual version and in the reinforced ice class. In the future, we can expect certification of the enterprise for the construction of "chemical carriers" - tankers designed for the transportation of aggressive chemicals and compounds. And this is not surprising, since Rosneft and Novatek are among the main shareholders and investors of the enterprise.
But with a high degree of probability, we can assume that over time, "Zvezda" can take over the implementation of large military contracts. The shipyard's capacities are suitable for the construction of large surface ships such as "destroyer", "large anti-submarine ship", "cruiser", and in the near future, after the delivery of the above-mentioned dry dock, will be suitable for the construction of aircraft carriers. And this is very important for our country - no matter how acute the question of whether we need aircraft carriers at all, we should still have a fundamental opportunity to build them.
Now, it seems, we will be able to completely replace Ukraine in this matter as well. Yes, and to bow to the Chinese, as some suggest, you will not have to go.
