On July 19, the ceremony of laying the keel of a cutter-dredger of the FPDG3 project designed for operation at the Volga-Caspian Sea Shipping Canal (VCSSC) was held in the Astrakhan Region. This is the third vessel in a series of high-performance dredgers under construction by Stroyliderplus LLC for FSUE “Rosmorport”. The project was developed by KB Flotproekt LLC.

The 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 series are paperback non-self-propelled cutter-dredgers equipped with soil pumps. The main purpose of the dredgers is to maintain the specified depths in the marine part of the VCSSC, in the water areas and on approaches to the seaports of Olya and Astrakhan to ensure the safety of navigation.

The dredgers of the series are notable for high power in their class. Previously, vessels with similar technical characteristics were not designed or built at Russian shipyards.

The sea endurance of the new dredgers in terms of fuel, engine oil, food and fresh water reserves is at least 7 days. The bow and stern ends have valances to improve the hydrodynamic characteristics of the hull during movement. The hull is designed for heavy round-the-clock and year-round operation and long-term service.

The Nikolay Rusanov dredger, leading vessel of the series, is currently undergoing mooring and test runs. In the near future, the vessel will be transferred to FSUE “Rosmorport” and will begin operation at VCSSC. At the same time, the process of manufacturing the hull of the second vessel in the series and contracting equipment is underway.

The enterprise is implementing the most large-scale project for the development of VCSSC in recent decades in order to ensure the operation of the North–South international transport corridor, the task set by President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin. In 2023, FSUE “Rosmorport” ensured a canal draught of 4.5 m at VCSSC leaving certain sections of one-way traffic. At the end of last year, the volume of dredging amounted to 10 million cubic meters. Currently, work is underway to maintain a canal draught of 4.5 m, as well as the expansion of one-way traffic sections.

Main characteristics and main dimensions of the vessel:

Class of the Russian Maritime Register of Shipping:	КЕR3 Dredger
Overall length:	68.9 m
Overall width:	12.2 m
Draft:	2.1 m
Capacity on water:	7,000 m3 per hour
Maximum/minimum development depth:	12/3 m
Maximum width of the slot at the maximum depth of development, no less than:	50 m
Draghead: constant power on the cutter shaft:	500 kW