Astrakhan Branch News

The fleet of the Astrakhan branch is replenished with dredging convoy

The fleet of the Astrakhan branch of FSUE “Rosmorport” was replenished with dredging convoy consisting of the North-West–503 dredger of the R-36 project and the ShS–74 self-propelled scow of the R-122 project.

Due to the reception of these vessels the dredging fleet of the Astrakhan branch increased up to 6 vessels, and now the branch operates 33 vessels for various purposes in total.

Previously, the vessels were in the operating management of the FBI "Administration of the Volga-Baltic Basin of Inland Waterways" and in accordance with the orders of Rosmorrechflot No. KS-417-r dated 16.09.2020 and No. KS-428-r dated 23.09.2020 were transferred to the economic management of FSUE “Rosmorport”.

The North-West–503 dredger belongs to the class of multibucket dredging vessels and is a double-deck vessel with a joint placement of the engine room and the main distribution frame and a separate control superstructure. The bucket plant, consisting of a bucket chain consisting of 33 scoopers, each with a capacity of 0.7 cubic meters, has an average capacity of 550 cubic meters per hour and can operate with bottom soils of I-V classes at depths from 3 to 10 meters. The use of this dredger in the conditions of the Volga-Caspian Sea Shipping Canal (VCSSC) is due to the need to develop complex sections in the open shallow sea part of the canal. Due to the use of bucket equipment, the dredger can more accurately handle the edges of the shipping channel.

The ShS–74 self-propelled scow is a single-deck vessel with a stern location of the superstructure and engine room, with a hold of 300 cubic meters capacity. The scow is equipped with bottom doors (sleds) for unloading soil into the underwater dump. The main advantage of this scow is its relatively small draft – up to 2.23 meters per cargo, which allows the vessel to operate on the shallow sea part of the canal, thereby reducing the distance of transportation of the seized soil to the places of its discharge into underwater dumps.

The Astrakhan branch plans to use the dredging convoy in 2021 for dredging on the 155-160 km section of the VCSSC.


For reference:

The North-West– 503 multibucket dredger was built at the Shipbuilding and Ship Repair Plant named after Ulyanov (Lenin) (Chkalovsk) in 1982.

Basic technical characteristics of the vessel:

Type of vessel: О-ПР 2,0 РРР
Maximum length: 55.0 m
Overall width: 11.0 m
Height: 13.8 m
Load draught: 2.28 m
Gross register tonnage: 582
Propulsion power: 640 kW
Dredging equipment: multibucket chain consisting of
33 buckets with a capacity of 0.7 cubic meters
Dredging equipment performance:    550 cubic meters/h on soils of I-III category
Rate of sailing: 5.4 knots
Crew: 30 people

The ShS–74 self-propelled scow was built at the Shipbuilding and Ship Repair Plant named after Ulyanov (Lenin) (Chkalovsk) in 1982.

Basic technical characteristics of the vessel:

Type of vessel: *O* PPP
Maximum length: 50.6 m
Overall width: 10.5 m
Height: 7.7 m
Load draught: 2.23 m
Gross register tonnage: 281
Propulsion power: 330 kW
Quantity and volume of hold spaces:    1 х 317 cubic meters
Rate of sailing: 6.4 knots
Crew: 12 people