On February 19, 2016 the official ceremony of keel laying of a hull of the lead self-propelled hooper barge of project HB600 with hopper capacity of 600 cubic meters was held in the Onezhsky Ship Building and Ship Repairing Plant.

The ceremony was attended by the Chief federal inspector in the Republic of Karelia of the   Office of the Plenipotentiary Representative of the Russian Federation Aleksandr Khynninen, the first Deputy Head of the Republic of Karelia Oleg Telnov, representative in the Federation Council of the executive body of the Republic of Karelia Sergey Katanandov, the Chairman of the Legislative Assembly of the Republic of Karelia Vladimir Semenov, the Executive Director of  FSUE Rosmorport Andrey Lavrischev, the General Director of Onezhsky Ship Building and Ship Repairing Plant Vladimir Mayzus and other officials.

The vessel is being constructed in order to maintain projected depths of hydrotechnical facilities in the Southern seaports of the country, as well as for continuous operation of the dredger fleet of FSUE Rosmorport.

The construction will be performed with the use of the modular method of hull construction, which reduces expenditure and facilitates installation of additional equipment. Besides, the project envisages application of folding rudder propellers and placement of a part of the main equipment (main engines) on the deck in special containers in the after part of the vessel. Such decisions allow facilitation of maintenance and repair of the hull equipment during the operation of the barge.

Provided that the development of the world merchant fleet is directed at the increasing of vessels size, competitive ability of the seaports depends directly upon depths of their water areas. The new dredger allows FSUE Rosmorport to maintain water areas and access channels in seaports, directly participating in dredging works.