ST. PETERSBURG, March 6. /TASS/. The keel of the Ivan Frolov research and expedition vessel named after the well-known polar researcher and ex-director of the Institute of Arctic and Antarctic will be laid at the Admiralty Shipyard in St. Petersburg in 2024, head of the Russian Federal Service for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring (Rosgidromet) Igor Shumakov said on Monday.
"We have a fairly extensive work schedule until December 2028. My colleagues and I are going to start construction today. All the funding is in place; the Russian government has approved construction and issued a relevant resolution. We have a contract for engineering and construction," the official said. "We are going to start the design work. It will continue throughout this year and the keel will be laid sometime next year," Shumakov noted.
The Ivan Frolov ship, designed to fulfill the Russian Antarctic program, will take at least five years to build and is to become the world’s largest in its class.
The length of the new vessel is planned to be about 165 meters. The deadweight will be about 25,000 metric tons. The ship will accommodate up to twenty laboratories, a hangar for two helicopters, and a helipad. The research vessel’s hull will conform to the Arc7 class, enabling voyages through challenging polar ice without icebreaker escort.