A new hydrographic survey vessel has been delivered to the Russian Navy while development continues on an autonomous platform that can retrieve rocket stages following space launches. Orders have meanwhile been placed for a pilot boat to serve a UK port and bridge erection boats for the Swedish military.
Irish boatbuilder Safehaven Marine has been selected for the construction of a new pilot boat for the Port of Blyth in the UK.
Following delivery, the vessel will be the fourth in a series of Safehaven-built pilot boats operating on the East Coasts of Scotland the UK, according to Safehaven's Managing Director Frank Kowalski.
The Swedish Defence Materiel Administration has awarded Birdon America a contract for the delivery of 15 bridge erection boats (BEBs).
Under the US$18.3 million agreement, Birdon will deliver six BEBs by December 31, 2026, and an additional nine BEBs will be handed over by December 31, 2027. All production activities will take place at Birdon’s US facilities.
A new catamaran research vessel slated for the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) was recently launched into the water for the first time in the Kaliningrad region.
Professor Paka will be operated the RAS' Institute of Oceanology (IO). The vessel honours Professor Vadim Timofeevich Paka, a noted scientist who had also served as the head of the IO for 30 years.
Russian shipbuilder SZOR has handed over a new hydrographic survey boat to the Russian Navy.
Vasily Bubnov belongs to the Project 19910 series of survey vessels designed by United Shipbuilding Corporation's (USC) Vympel Design Bureau. Yakov Lapushkin, a vessel from the same series, was delivered to the Russian Navy in 2023 following completion at USV's Vympel Shipyard.
A partnership formed by Norwegian shipbuilder Vard, Ingegneria Dei Sistemi, and Italian research consultancy Cetena has begun design work on a new recovery vehicle for the European Space Agency (ESA).
The maritime platform under development is a multi-purpose drone vessel designed to retrieve rocket stages that land at sea after launch. These stages, which are typically lost or discarded, can now be recovered and reused, significantly improving the efficiency and sustainability of space missions, according to Vard.
