In St. Petersburg, at the Sredne-Nevsky Shipbuilding Plant (part of the United Shipbuilding Corporation, USC), the keel-laying ceremony of the Project 12700 minesweeper "Leonid Balyakin" took place. The vessel will join the Russian Navy.
Project 12700 ships belong to a new generation of mine-countermeasure forces and are designed to combat naval mines, which can be detected both in the water of marine areas and in the seabed, without entering the danger zone.
The Neva shipbuilders use unique technologies that have no analogues in world shipbuilding. For example, "Leonid Balyakin", like other Project 12700 vessels, will receive the world's largest hull made of monolithic fiberglass, formed by vacuum infusion method.
The weight of the fiberglass hull will be lower than that of a metal one. The minesweeper is not afraid of corrosion, and its service life is unlimited.
Vessel characteristics:
- Length — 61.75 m
- Width — 10.8 m
- Draft — 3.68 m
- Speed — 15 knots
- Endurance — 10 days
- Crew — 51 people