An accident occurred in the waters of the Don River near the city of Azov: the floating dock "Plavdok-08" went completely underwater together with the pusher tug "Stalnoi" of Project 81. Nothing is yet known about casualties or fuel leaks.
The incident is especially notable because "Plavdok-08" would have marked its 70th anniversary in 2026. Built back in 1956 in East Germany to the Ubigau 400 project, the dock is impressive in its dimensions: nearly 44.5 meters long, exactly 20 meters wide, and with a lifting capacity of 600 tons.
But the tugboat "Stalnoi" is quite young: it was launched in 2015 at the Sredne-Nevsky Shipyard, part of the United Shipbuilding Corporation. The Project 81 vessel was designed for heavy work — pushing and towing Project 82 barges, each capable of carrying up to 4,300 tons of cargo. Short towing runs were its specialty, and before the accident it handled them excellently.
The causes of the sinking remain a mystery so far — no official statements have been made by the authorities or the owners.
Read more materials on the topic:
- 240 million rubles will be spent on a 3D model of the sunken PD-50 floating dock for Admiral Kuznetsov
- Astrakhan shipbuilders have begun the active phase of construction of the floating dock "Vladimir Emelianov"
- The sunken military tugboat "Kapitan Ushakov" has not been raised from the bottom after a month
