Vyborg: Developments are happening fast at Vyborg Shipyard. The 65-year-old company is one of the largest shipbuilding companies in the northwest of Russia and a leader in the field of icebreakers. Vyborg town itself, whose history dates back to Swedish heritage more than 600 years ago, has been building ships for more than half a millennium.
As of last year the yard became a group member of fellow Russian firm United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC), as the nation tries to become more competitive on the vessel construction front.
Vyborg Shipyard's general director Alexander Solovyev tells Maritime CEO the yard's hull production facilities have been modernised recently with the installation of an automatic Rösler line for all-round shotblasting and shop priming of rolled plates. There’s also been a rearrangement and upgrading of bending and cold cutting floors and the commissioning of advanced shotblasting and painting cells for hull blocks
Moreover, a semi-submersible barge-floating dock is being completed at Vyborg Shipyard. “Putting the barge into operation will enable the shipyard to improve construction technology with a reduction in costs,” says Solovyev. The addition will also allow the yard to work on much wider ships, up to 30 m width compared to today's maximum of 18 m.
The semi-submersible barge is intended for the launching of hulls and skidding of hull structures with weights up to 5,000 tonnes.
Last year Vyborg Shipyard won a brace of 16 MW icebreaker contracts for delivery in 2015.
“The new icebreakers incorporate improved technical characteristics in view of the experience of winter operation of our two icebreakers project earlier in the Finnish Gulf,” concludes Solovyev. [22/05/13]
