The Russian Academy of Sciences, through its Shirshov Institute of Oceanology (SIO), plans to restore research vessels Akademik Mstislav Keldysh and Akademik Sergey Vavilov by 2027 and Professor Shtokman by 2030.
SIO Acting Airector Roman Gorbunov gave the targets at a meeting with Russia’s Science and Higher Education Minister Valery Falkov on Friday, September 25. He also listed the return of the institute’s Mir manned submersibles, which are rated to work at depths of up to 6,000 metres, as a near-term priority.
The institute said it will prepare a comprehensive development programme through 2036 following the meeting. Falkov identified fleet modernisation and new ship construction among current tasks, alongside capital repairs and development of the institute’s southern base.
A September tender set a starting price of RUB31 million (US$370,000) for capital repairs to Vavilov at its berth in Saint Petersburg. Applications will close on October 5, and work is due for completion by December 17. A second stage of the vessel’s modernisation was under way at Kanonersky Ship Repair Yard in February 2025.
Tenders issued in April 2025 put work to complete Keldysh’s modernisation at more than RUB1.1 billion (US$13 million), including RUB532 million (US$6.29 million) for mechanical-electrical work. Another tender in December covered its bow and stern electrohydraulic cranes. The vessel returned to Kaliningrad in October 2024 after her 97th expedition.
Professor Shtokman has been laid up since 2017. In a July 2025 interview with Korabel.ru, the institute’s deputy director for the fleet, Vyacheslav Kremenetsky, said a 2024 inspection found Shtokman’s hull metal in excellent condition.
“That will cost much less than building a new vessel,” said Kremenetsky.
At a June 2025 press conference, then-Acting Director Vladimir Shevchenko put the potential cost of restoring the Mir vehicles at about RUB20 billion (US$240 million). He said the work would take several years if state funding was available.
The institute had sought government support first to assess the vehicles and later to repair them.
In January comments published by Morvesti, deputy director for scientific work Andrey Gebruk said the institute and Rubin Central Design Bureau were discussing terms and technical requirements for an assessment. “The Mirs are not yet being restored,” he said.
A Korabel.ru report in March quoted academician Mikhail Flint as saying the institute had contracted Rubin to assess at least one vehicle and was preparing Mir-1 for transport to Kronstadt for a detailed examination.
The Mir vehicles were built in Finland in 1987 and operated from Keldysh, which was fitted to support them. Their work included filming the wreck of Titanic.
The SIO previously completed a refit of Akademik Nikolay Strakhov in 2022–23 that modernised the vessel's scientific and shipboard equipment and was expected to extend the vessel’s service life by 10 to 15 years.
