The event was attended by Commander-in-Chief of the Navy Admiral Nikolai Evmenov, First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Control Committee Mikhail Romanov, Deputy General Director for Military Shipbuilding of USC Vladimir Korolev, Chief Advisor to General Director of USC Viktor Chirkov, General Director of SNSZ Vladimir Seredokho, Chief Engineer Central Marine Design Bureau “Almaz” (part of USC) Konstantin Golubev and other guests of honor.
“Today the Sredne-Nevsky Shipbuilding Plant is one of the leading enterprises in the shipbuilding industry. Over the course of a century, it has become high-tech and one of the largest in Russia. Suffice it to say that during the work of the plant, more than 500 ships and vessels were built according to 43 projects,” Vladimir Korolev noted in his welcoming speech. According to him, today shipbuilders of the plant are building a new generation of mine defense ships with excellent hydroacoustics, navigation, weapons and a modern mine action system according to a unique project developed by the Almaz Central Design Bureau team.
At the ceremony, Commander-in-Chief of the Navy Nikolai Evmenov awarded the workers of the plant with medals “Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union S.G. Gorshkov. Natalya Davydova, Alexei Koltsov, Nikita Paskin and Alexei Chepurin received the award for their great personal contribution to the development, production, testing and commissioning of ships for the Navy on time and with high quality. Also, for the conscientious performance of their duties, the Commander-in-Chief announced gratitude to two employees of the SNSZ.
The minesweeper, named after the Soviet naval officer Lieutenant Commander Dmitry Lysov, became the eleventh in the line of the Alexandrite project, laid down at the Sredne-Nevsky Shipyard. The ships belong to a new generation of mine-sweeping forces and are designed to deal with sea mines, which can be found both in the water of sea areas and in the sea soil without entering the danger zone. They can use various types of trawls, as well as remote-controlled and autonomous uninhabited underwater vehicles.
The ships of the Alexandrite project have a unique, the world’s largest hull made of monolithic fiberglass, formed by vacuum infusion. The mass of such a case is much lower compared to a metal case, while its strength is significantly increased. Corrosion is not terrible for such a case, and the service life, subject to operating standards, is unlimited. In addition to high strength and low weight, the advantages of the composite hull include its “non-magnetic nature”, which ensures greater survivability of the ship when searching for mines.