New boats are being built in St. Petersburg for Sevastopol

On October 27, shipbuilders of the Rostr shipyard in Novaya Ladoga solemnly launched the second sea passenger vessel of the PV20S project this year. His descent took place on the only uncontrolled lateral fall slipway in Russia.

How did I find out? «Sevastopol newspaper»after the St. Petersburg Central Design Bureau “Neptune” failed the contract for the construction of five passenger ships for Sevastopol and is now fighting off claims of 300 million rubles, the boats are being completed by another company from the same business group.

Let us recall that in the summer of 2019, the government of Sevastopol entered into a leasing contract for the purchase of vessels for the State Unitary Enterprise “Sevelektroavtotrans named after A.S. Krupoderov”. His partner was the State Transport Leasing Company (STLC), which ordered five cruise passenger ships of the PV20S project from the St. Petersburg JSC Central Design Bureau «Neptune». But, as it is written in the decision of the Moscow Arbitration Court published on October 28: “Until now, not a single sea vessel has been delivered by the defendant.”

For a year and a half now, STLC has been trying to recover 238.7 million rubles in penalties from the Neptune Central Design Bureau for breaking the contract. The process is complicated; the decision made and entered into legal force was overturned by the cassation court, and the case is being examined anew.

In the process, Neptune presents numerous arguments for the failure of the contract — from incorrect execution of technical documentation to pandemic restrictions, international sanctions and its own financial difficulties. The result of the new consideration of the case is still unclear.

In the meantime, STLC terminated the contract with the Neptune Central Design Bureau and found a new contractor — the St. Petersburg JSC NPP Aviation and Marine Electronics (AME). According to his general director of the company A. Mityanin, he has no doubts about the successful fulfillment of obligations to the leasing company.

At the end of next year we will deliver two vessels to the customer, and three more in 2025. There are problems, but they are standard, production ones. On Friday we launched the second vessel at the Rostr shipyard in Novaya Ladoga, everything is going according to plan... — the head of AME told the publication «Business Petersburg».

Surprisingly, AME retained the same contractors that Neptune had: the Novoladoga-based LLC Rostr Shipbuilding Plant and the Samara-based JSC Nefteflot.

According to the project, a new self-propelled twin-screw passenger coastal vessel with a two-tier superstructure can be operated in conditions with outside temperatures ranging from + 40 ºС with a humidity of 50% in the summer to -15 ºС with a humidity of 85% in the winter and is designed to transport 200 people.

Let us recall that a year ago, Sevastopol residents were informed that the construction of five passenger boats for cruising across the bay had stalled due to problems with the supply of imported components. The government of Sevastopol did not terminate the contract, but allowed the Sevelektroavtotrans enterprise to extend it for two years. At the same time, as the then director of the department of transport and road infrastructure of Sevastopol, and now deputy governor Pavel Ieno, assured, all five ship hulls are ready, and two are already being completed. Sevastopol will receive them by the summer of 2023, and three more as they are ready.

source: «Sevastopol newspaper»