On September 12, 2024, the ceremony of laying the keel of two supply vessels of the FPW1 project was held in the Astrakhan Region. They are being built by Stroyliderplus LLC by the order of FSUE “Rosmorport”. The project was carried out by KB Flotproekt LLC.

The solemn event was attended by Yuri Michurov, Chief Engineer of the FSUE “Rosmorport” Astrakhan Branch, Viktor Kulagin, Engineer-Inspector of the Russian Maritime Register of Shipping, Vladimir Kazakbayev, Deputy General Director for Shipbuilding of Stroyliderplus LLC, and other representatives of the construction plant.

The vessels of the FPW1 project are universal multipurpose vessels designed for various marine operations, including pushing/towing, working with buoys and anchors, auxiliary works during dredging, cargo and personnel transportation, fuel and water supply.

The vessels of this project have a 2.5 ton crane, which will be used to raise and lay anchors to hold the dredgers. The FPW1 project vessels are used for slurry pipelines planting and dredger anchor laying.

In total, three vessels of the series will be built for FSUE “Rosmorport”, designed for operation on the Volga-Caspian Sea Shipping Canal in conjunction with high–performance non-self-propelled cutter-dredgers of the FPDG3 project in order to develop the International North-South Transport Corridor. The lead vessel of the series, laid at the production site of Stroyliderplus LLC in November 2023, will join the largest dredging group of the enterprise in the country in 2025.

For reference:

The complex dredging of the canal in the conditions of a significant decrease in the level of the Caspian Sea is an important part of the global project for the development of the North–South Transport Corridor. In 2023, FSUE “Rosmorport”, in accordance with the instrutions of Russian President Vladimir Putin, ensured a canal draught of 4.5 m on the Volga-Caspian Sea Shipping Canal (VCSSC) with the preservation of certain sections of one-way vessel traffic. The volume of dredging by the end of 2023 amounted to 10 million cubic meters. Last year, an unprecedented number of vessels were involved in the development of the canal: more than 40 units of dredging and auxiliary equipment, including 18 dredgers.

Class of the Russian Maritime Register of Shipping:	KM  R3 Aut 3 Icel
Overall hull length:	about 23.0 m
Width (overall, incl. horizontal bar):	about 9.5 m
Overall draft:	max 1.6 m
Gross tonnage:	161
Area of navigation:	R3
Sea endurance:	7 days (by fuel reserves)
Main propulsion power:	2 х 295 kW
Ship crane capacity:	2.5 t when the boom reaches 10 m
Tank capacity:
Fuel tanks (for own needs):	about 8 cub. m
Fuel supply tanks:	about 27 cub. m
Process water tanks (for own needs):	about 2.7 cub. m
Drinking water tanks (supplies):	about 23 cub. m
Tonnage:
Empty:	about 88 t
Rate of sailing:	9.7 nautical miles
Crew:	4 people