Russia’s seventh Alexandrit-class minesweeper launched

Sredne-Nevsky Shipyard, a part of the United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC), has launched the seventh Project 12700 Aleksandrit-class minesweeper.

The launching ceremony of the new vessel, Anatoly Shlemov, was held on 26 November. The right to break a bottle of champagne on the side of the minesweeper was granted to Anastasia Tatulova, the daughter of the shipbuilder, Vice Admiral Anatoly Fyodorovich Shlemov, whose name the new ship bears.

The ship was laid down in July 2019. After the launch, Anatoly Shlemov stood at the berth where work continued on its completion. In the near future, the company’s delivery team will begin preparations for the first stage of mooring tests.

In 2016, Sredne-Nevsky delivered the lead ship of the class, the minesweeper Alexander Obukhov. The shipbuilder also delivered Ivan Antonov, Vladimir Yemelyanov and Yakov Belyaev to the navy. Another unit, Georgy Kurbatov, was launched in September 2020 and is slated for delivery in 2021.

The next generation of minesweepers is armed with modern search and detection of mines complexes, surface and underwater autonomous mine-clearance vehicles and is designed to detect and terminate all types of mines; mine sewn bases, coastal areas, ships in the fleet move on the sea, and laying minefields and conduct mine recon.

Project 12700 minesweepers have the largest fiberglass body in the world, according to the Russian defense ministry. A monolithic-fiberglass hull provides for greater survivability during mine countermeasure operations and weighs less than a low-magnetic steel hull.

With a displacement of 890 tons, the Project 12700 minesweepers feature a length of 62 meters and a width of 10 meters.

The sixth unit, Pyotr Ilyichev, was launched in April this year.