Jokes, however: Sevastopol residents were assured that the Bentos submarine is not for sale

The advertisement for the sale of the Bentos submarine, posted on December 12 on a popular online trading platform, is just a stupid joke. General Director of the Museum of Hydronautics Alexander Ganzhenko told Sevastopolskaya Gazeta about this at a gala event dedicated to the centenary of the creation of the Special Purpose Underwater Expedition (EPRON), which took place on December 15 in Balaklava.

This is all nonsense, real stupidity. The owner of the submarine is not the lady who put it up for sale, but Viktor Kovalev. He is not going to exhibit this boat anywhere. We asked him questions, he said that this was a provocation, this cannot happen — “Bentos” will continue to serve the city— Alexander Ganzhenko dispelled the rumors.

This week, the Sevastopol media sphere exploded with information that a private person, Elena G., put the Bentos submarine up for sale on the Avito Internet platform. The saleswoman asked for 150 million rubles for the submarine.

The only surviving civilian submarine, Benthos 300 No. 1, has been renovated to accommodate a museum on board (three compartments, two decks), with portholes underwater. Located in the port of Sevastopol. Can be towed to another port. River register documents— stated in the ad.

The announcement of the sale of a unique submarine caused a real stir in the city. In two days, the ad was viewed by 12 thousand people. After which the ad was removed from the site.

Let us recall that in 1976 and 1983, by order of the USSR Ministry of Fisheries, two experimental submarines were manufactured in Leningrad. Large underwater laboratories with a displacement of about 500 tons were intended for long-term biological scientific observations.

Both boats were used in the Sevastopol branch of SEKB Promrybolovstvo. The main use of the boats was for television and photography while being towed by a surface vessel. And yet the project did not receive development. By that time, remote-controlled devices had already begun to be used to conduct biological observations.

After the collapse of the USSR, both boats went to Ukraine. Subsequently, one boat sank in the Novorossiysk area. The second one passed into private hands, changed several owners, sank at the pier in Sevastopol, was raised and remained in the port for a long time in a deplorable condition. Since 2008, the main owner of Bentos has been Viktor Kovalev.

At the end of October 2017, he and his support group prepared documents for receiving a Presidential grant in the category “Preservation of Historical Heritage.” Enthusiasts decided to restore “Bentos” and create a museum of hydronautics on its basis. Then the Bentos team won a grant and received almost nine million rubles for the implementation of their project. This money was used to partially carry out restoration work, but due to insufficient funds, the activists were never able to fully implement their ideas.

source: Sevastopolskaya Gazeta