Project cargoes to the Caspian
A new ship launched by the Nevsky Shipyard has been designed to carry project and heavy lift cargoes from the Black Sea to the Caspian Sea.
This new ship, the Neva-Leader 7, has been mainly developed to transport the cargoes required for the expanding oil and gas industries in the Caspian Sea region.
The significant feature of the Neva-Leader 7 is a central hold that has a clear length of 52m to enable the ship to accommodate oversize and heavy lift cargoes. Because the ship has been sized and designed to operate on both inland waterways and on short sea routes it can transport oversize cargoes from ports in Europe right through to the Caspian Sea, avoiding the need for transhipment.
The vessel has an overall length of 139.95m and a beam of 16.7m. This size enables it to meet the size measurements for the Volga-Don Max class of vessel according to the Russian marine Engineering Bureau. It also meets the size limitations of the Volga-Don Canal. The draft for inland waterway operations is 3.6m, equating to a deadweight of 4,520 tonnes. For sea operations these figures can be increased to a draft of 4.7m and a deadweight of 7,150 tonnes.
The total cargo hold capacity is 10,920m3. The design was developed by Marine Engineering Bureau Design-Spc and the vessel is also classed for operations in ice. In addition to project cargoes the vessel is designed to handle a variety of general and bulk cargoes including grain and timber.
Nevsky Shipyard is located close to St.Petersburg in the north of Russia and this cargo vessel is close to the maximum size that can be accommodated in the yard. The owners of the vessel, the North-Western Shipping Company, is one of the largest operators on Russia’s extensive inland waterways system, with a fleet of over 100 ships and various tugs and barges. The Neva-Leader 7 is the latest vessel to be added to the fleet in a major expansion of fleet capability.
By Dag Pike
