Serial production of vessels based on unified platform solutions, such as "Platform No. 1" for river-sea vessels, will reduce construction labor intensity and facilitate cooperation with component suppliers. This was stated by Mikhail Afonyutin, Director of the Department of Sales and Contracting of Civil Shipbuilding at the United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC), at the "Shipbuilding – Strategy 2026" conference in St. Petersburg.
According to USC estimates, this approach will help reduce vessel construction costs by more than 10% and decrease the number of unique components by 20%. One shipyard can establish the construction of up to 20 vessels per year, reducing assembly times by up to 30%. This is possible provided there is funding for the entire series and no changes in the project documentation, USC explained.
Afonyutin stated that a technical project for a chemical tanker has been developed and approved by the Russian Maritime Register of Shipping based on Platform No. 1. In addition, specialists are preparing documentation for an R2-RSN class dry cargo vessel.
The design has entered an active phase. We plan to start construction of a vessel based on this project at "Krasnoye Sormovo" in October 2026.
There is high demand for these dry cargo vessels – more than 200 units. The customer expects to receive the first vessel as early as 2027, added the USC top manager.
How the corporation plans to distribute orders
The "Krasnoye Sormovo" plant can become the base site for the construction of river-sea vessels, "Severnaya Verf" for large-tonnage marine transport vessels, and the Baltic Shipyard for icebreakers and floating power units. USC proposed distributing the construction of research vessels, emergency rescue vessels, and fishing vessels among the Amur, Vyborg, and Admiralty Shipyards. Passenger vessels could be assembled at the Sredne-Nevsky Shipbuilding Plant and the "More" plant, the corporation believes.
At the same time, as Afonyutin emphasized, a specialized approach does not mean a strict prohibition on building other types of vessels. The main thing is to ensure the necessary production rhythm at the enterprises, he concluded.
"Platform No. 1"
USC introduced the platform approach in 2025. "Platform No. 1" for river-sea vessels unifies the bow and stern, superstructure, wheelhouse, equipment, and ship systems. The cargo area remains variable.
On September 23, 2025, USC and "Morskaya Tekhnika" company signed a cooperation agreement. The document provides for the construction of 20 dry cargo container ships based on Platform No. 1.