VESSEL REVIEW | Dmitry Golubev – Russian spill cleanup boat designed for inland waters

Russia's Kostroma Shipyard recently handed over a new oil skimmer boat to the City Administration of Saint Petersburg for operation by its emergency services division.

High speed for quicker responses to incidents

The vessel has been named Dmitry Golubev (Дмитрий Голубев) after the late Dmitry Alekseevich Golubev, the first Chair of the Committee for Nature Management and Environmental Protection of Saint Petersburg. It will be operated primarily in the rivers and canals of Saint Petersburg, performing oil spill cleanup duties using booms, skimmers, sorbent, and collection tanks.

The newbuild has an LOA of 19.6 metres (64.3 feet), a beam of 3.2 metres (10 feet), a draught of only 0.5 metre (1.6 feet), a displacement of 23.2 tonnes, a maximum speed of 21.6 knots, and two crewmembers.

First in a planned fleet

The vessel was designed to be suitable for operation in the unique marine environments within the shallow inland waters of Saint Petersburg. The vessel therefore boasts ideal speed, controllability, and manoeuvrability to enable it to quickly respond to oil spills in the city’s waters, but also guarantees ease of use and maintenance to prolong its operational life.

The Committee for Nature Management and Environmental Protection plans to acquire additional oil skimmer boats from the same series over the next two years to significantly enhance the Saint Petersburg city administration’s ability to respond to spill incidents. The acquisition of the skimmer boats is part of a renewal program of the city administration’s fleet of environmental management and protection vessels.