Russian shipbuilder Krasnoye Sormovo launched another project RSD59 Volgo-Don Max multipurpose dry cargo vessel at its yard in Nizhny Novgorod on Tuesday, November 10.
Construction will continue at the yard's outfitting quay. Mooring and sea trials will follow to test the propulsion installation, automation, navigation, communications and life-support systems, according to parent company United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC).
The vessels are dimensioned to the restrictions of the Volga-Don navigation canal and are intended for both inland waterways and sea routes.
Manoeuvrability is provided by two fully rotating azimuth thrusters. The design can carry general and bulk cargoes, grain, packaged sawn timber, roundwood, scrap metal, heavy cargoes and dangerous goods.
Earlier units of the series built at the yard include Pola Yaroslava and Pola Anastasiya, which were delivered in 2020. Each has a length of 140.88 metres, a beam of 17 metres and a maximum draught of 4.53 metres. Their river and sea deadweight tonnages are 5,128 and 7,535 respectively.
In September, general director Sergey Lyashenko said main work on the contract for 18 RSD59 vessels for State Transport Leasing Company (GTLK) would finish by mid-2027. This will release capacity for new construction.
The yard began cutting steel for the lead project KSD1 dry cargo vessel on September 28. The KSD1 is the first ship based on USC's Platform No. 1, a common architecture for river-sea dry cargo ships, container carriers and tankers.
USC chief executive Andrey Puchkov said the corporation holds a firm order for 10 platform-based ships and expects the lead vessel to be completed in 2027.
USC said the yard's ongoing modernisation is intended to enable output of up to 20 cargo vessels annually. The programme covers large-block flow production, robotic welding and automated metal processing.
