Passenger catamaran Grifon built by Sredne-Nevsky Shipyard put into test operation
Passenger catamaran Grifon of Project 23290, an innovative vessel built by AO Sredne-Nevsky Shipyard (a company of United Shipbuilding Corporation), has joined the fleet of Neva Travel Company, says USC.
On 16 July 2018, the Grifon performed her pilot voyage on Saint-Petersburg – Petergof – Saint-Petersburg route. During the test the ship demonstrated her perfect stability, steering performance, course-keeping and other technologies characteristics. On September 8, the catamaran made its first tourist voyage with 150 passengers onboard. It took the vessel 40 minutes to sail from Senatskaya birth in Saint-Petersburg to Petergof.
The hull is made of composite materials with the use of domestic carbon fabrics. The use of composite materials in this project allowed to improve its shock durability for 20-30%, fatigue durability – for 50-200%. Besides, composite hulls aren’t subject to corrosion and are much lighter than metal hulls, hence lower fuel and lubes consumption.
The catamaran of Project 23290 is intended for transportation of 150 passengers to a distance up to 1000 km. The vessel’s length is 25.7 m, width – 9.03 m, draft – 1.5 m. Maximum speed – 29.5 knots. The catamaran can be operated with waves of up to 2 meters (seaworthiness – 4 points).
The catamaran was designed for operation on most tourist routes of Saint-Petersburg. With its low draft it can be operated in shallow waters. The vessel’s air draught of 5.5 m allows for sailing under most of the bridges.
Vessels of Project 23290 feature high maneuverability, steering performance and course-keeping qualities (moving both ahead and sternward), high resistance to rolling.
Unlike passenger hydrofoils of Meteor type, the Grifon does not need dedicated births, embarking/disembarking of passengers is possible from both bow and stern of the ship. The new catamaran is operated by only two crewmembers.
When building a series the shipyard will take into consideration the operator’s remarks to be obtained upon completion of test operation. The interest to Project 23290 and its modifications was expressed by potential foreign customers. Preliminary negotiations were held with tourist companies of Cuba and Greece.
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Sredne-Nevsky Shipyard presents its innovative passenger catamaran of Project 23291 (graphics) >>>>
