MOSCOW, June 29. /TASS/. The Zvezda shipyard has delivered a fourth Aframax tanker to Rosnefteflot and floated out a fifth tanker for Sovcomflot, Rosneft said in a statement.

"On Shipbuilder Day, the Zvezda shipyard simultaneously held ceremonies to deliver to the customer the Akademik Gubkin tanker and float out the Vostochny Prospekt tanker, which had been under construction for Sovcomflot, from the open heavy outfitting berth," the statement said.

The ceremony has been attended by video link by Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin.

The Akademik Gubkin, the fourth Aframax-type ship built at the plant, was delivered to Rosnefteflot, a Rosneft subsidiary.

The company said the tanker Akademik Gubkin successfully passed sea trials, during which the crew, the handover team and specialists of the shipyard tested the main and auxiliary propulsion units, life support systems and the navigation system of the vessel. All the equipment worked as designed, drawing no complaints from the representatives of the Maritime Shipping Register and the customer. After the ceremony the Akademik Gubkin left the Bolshoy Kamen water area for her first proper voyage.

The Vostochny Prospekt tanker was floated out with the help of the Vympel transport and transfer dock. In the near future it is to undergo fitting works and then to undergo sea trials and mooring tests.

According to the statement, Mishustin wished the best to shipbuilders on their professional holiday, thanked them for the efficient work and described the delivery and the floating-out of the tanker as a gift to the civil fleet and the Russian Federation, "the value of which is difficult to overestimate."

"For several years, ships of this size and complexity hadn’t been built in Russia. There was no capacity for that. Now a high-tech cluster with huge potential is steadily developing in the Far East. Now they are working on the most challenging tasks there, which are necessary for the development of the Northern Sea Route, professionals are working there, the latest equipment is being used," the prime minister was quoted as saying in the statement.

About the tankers

Aframax-type ice-class oil tankers are designed for transportation of oil and oil products with no restrictions to their navigation area. The length of the tanker is 250 meters, the width is 44 meters, the deadweight is 114,000 tons. Zvezda is the first Russian shipyard to have built ships of this type. The main and auxiliary propulsion units can operate both on traditional and environmentally friendly fuel: liquefied natural gas.

In total, the Zvezda shipyard has a backlog of orders for 12 tankers of this type, 10 of them for Rosnefteflot. The first three Aframax ships are already performing regular voyages.

The Zvezda shipyard is being built in the town of Bolshoy Kamen in the Primorye Region by a consortium of investors led by Rosneft. The company has provided the shipyard with initial workload by concluding contracts for the construction of 28 ships. It is the first Russian heavy-tonnage shipyard designed for building ice-class ships with a displacement tonnage of up to 350,000 tons, special-purpose vessels and other types of marine craft. The shipyard's order book is for more than 60 ships.

The Zvezda shipyard project includes facilities that have already been put into operation such as a hull fabrication unit, paint rooms, an open heavy outfitting berth and the largest dry dock in Russia. Some other facilities are still under construction.