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Shipbuilders float out cutting-edge minesweeper for Russian Navy

Following the tradition, the warship was consecrated before its launch

Mine countermeasures ship Pyotr Ilyichev Anastasia Strepeniuk/TASS

Mine countermeasures ship Pyotr Ilyichev

© Anastasia Strepeniuk/TASS

ST. PETERSBURG, April 28. /TASS/. The Sredne-Nevsky Shipyard (part of Russia’s United Shipbuilding Corporation) has floated out the Project 12700 mine countermeasures ship Pyotr Ilyichev, a TASS correspondent reports from the scene.

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"We are floating out a new ship together. It is an excellent ship with warships of this Project having proven their worth at sea," Russian Navy Commander-in-Chief Admiral Nikolai Yevmenov said at the launch ceremony.

The Project 12700 Alexandrit will be continued, the Navy chief said.

Following the tradition, the warship was consecrated before its launch. During its float-out, a gun salute lit up the sky with the colors of the Russian national flag (white, blue and red).

The minesweeper Pyotr Ilyichev was laid down in July 2018 and is the Project 12700 Alexandrit-class fifth serial-produced (sixth-built) warship. The shipbuilders are building the mine countermeasures ships on order from the Russian Navy.

Russia’s Project 12700 Alexandrit-class coastal-type minesweepers developed by the Almaz Central Marine Design Bureau are referred to the new generation of minesweeping forces and are designated to fight sea mines, which the new ships can encounter in the sea and on the seabed without entering the dangerous zone. The minesweepers can employ various sweeps, as well as remotely controlled and autonomous underwater drones. The minesweepers of this Project displace about 800 tonnes, are 62 meters long, have a crew of 44 men and an operating range of 1,500 miles.

The Project 12700 mine countermeasures vessels (minesweepers) have the world’s biggest hull made of monolithic fiberglass formed by vacuum infusion. As its advantage, this solution provides for the ship’s higher strength compared to the steel hull. The hull made of the monolithic fiberglass has a longer service life (up to 30 years) than the hull made of low-magnetic steel while its weight is considerably smaller.

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