"Igor Belousov" during sea trials.(Photo: forums.airbase.ru)
The Northern Fleet’s new rescue vessel «Igor Belousov» has completed its first sea trials and should be ready for transfer to the north in course of the first quarter of 2015.
The “Igor Belousov”, the first vessel in the 21300 project, will be based in the Northern Fleet and fill a need, long requested by the Russian Navy. The vessel is designed to rescue crews from submerged, disabled submarines (lying on the sea floor or on the surface) as well as for supplying air, energy and life-saving equipment to submarines and surface ships. It has a landing pad for helicopters and can take on board 60 submariners for decompression.
The vessel is equipped with the “Bester-1” mini-submarine, which can dive down to 700 meters and take onboard rescues at depths down to 60 meters.
“Igor Belousov” will in course of the first quarter of 2015 sail to the Northern Fleet, where deep-water testing of “Bester-1” will be conducted, the Russian Armed Forces’ web site reads.
The “Bester-1” mini-submarine. (Photo: forums.airbase.ru)
The 98 meter long and 5000 ton deadweight ship will be the first search and rescue vessel built in Russia for almost 30 years. Construction started in 2005 but soon came to a standstill because of dried-up funding. The construction of the vessel has also been delayed because of a major change in the ship’s diving complex. It was put on water in 2012 and was planned to be handed over to the Navy in November 2014, as BarentsObserver reported.
