Tugboat Aleksandr Solzhenitsin put into operation at commercial seaport of Magadan (photo)
New tugboat Aleksandr Solzhenitsin built at Damen’s Shipyards Changde in China moored at the berth of Magadan seaport, says press center of Magadan region.
The ceremony of putting the ship into operation was attended by Vladimir Pecheny, Governor of the Magadan Region.
“Putting the new ship into operation is a milestone event for the region’s key transport hub. What has been done here for several years is a good outlook. We don’t have much traffic so far but it will come. We are facing the development of oilfields on the shelf and other large scale projects which can fully load the port with work,” said Vladimir Pecheny.
Tugboat ASD 2609 ICE, the Aleksandr Solzhenitsin was built in China, at Damen’s Shipyards Changde. The ship has a length of 26 m, width of 9.5, displacement of 430 t. The ship is equipped with two Caterpillar engines with total capacity of 3,300 h.p. and two Rolls Royce thrusters.
According to Andrei Gorbov, Director General of the seaport, Damen tugboats are very reliable and they are widespread in Russia.
“We have discussed it with the ports of Saint-Petersburg, Vanino and Vostochny – all of them speak well of Damen. Average cost of a tugboat is some EUR 6 mln. It is a long awaited replacement of tugboats as the last new tugboat moored here almost 35 years ago” said Andrei Gorbov.
Tugboat captain Vladislav Polyakov says the ship can break through 1-metre thick ice and can be used for rescue, evacuation and firefighting purposes. The tug crew numbers eight persons.
In May 2016, the port of Magadan will welcome the second tugboat named after Vladimir Vysotsky.
