Sophisticated salvage vessel for Russian Federation

Built to RS class, construction of the Spasatel Zaborschikov was carried out under the state contract for the Federal Marine and River Transport Agency of the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation and the Direction of State Contractor of Marine Transport Development Program. The vessel is the third in a series of four similar vessels designated project MPSV07 and developed by Marine Engineering Bureau-Design-SPb, JSC. The vessel is intended for rescue and salvage operations, providing technical support and assistance and towing ships and offshore structures in ice and open water.

Spasatel Zaborschikov is built to RS class notation KM* Arc5[1] AUT-ICS OMBO FF3WS DYNPOS-2 EPP Salvage ship. General specification of the vessel is stated as: 73m LOA, 15.5m breadth at waterline, 5.1m maximum draft, 1,171t deadweight at maximum draft, main machinery installation 2 x 2,000 kW, speed 15 knots. The technical details are typical of that to be found in salvage vessels and Spasatel Zaborschikov’s capabilities include: the abilityto re-float vessels that run aground or are reef damaged, pump water from damaged compartments, perform emergency towing of vessels to a place of refuge, search and rescue and the evacuation and accommodation of people.

Additional roles the vessel is designed to carry out includes support of underwater diving works to depths up to 300m, and the surveying of the seabed and damaged objects at depths up to 1,000m. Firefighting capabilities include the capacity to extinguish burning fuel on water and fires in ships and coastal objects. An oil spill recovery capability is also provided, including for oil products with a flashpoint below 60’C.

The vessel was named in honour of the veteran of the Marine Rescue Service of Russia Mikhail Zaborschikov who took part in more than 200 rescue and salvage operations, including highly complex assignments. Spasatel is Russian for rescuer. The previous two vessels of the MPSV07 project delivered in 2013 are Spasatel Karev, registered in St Petersburg and Spasatel Kavdejkin registered in Murmansk. Both vessels are reported to be operating successfully.

By Peter Barker