VESSEL REVIEW | Yakov Lapushkin – Russian Navy small survey boat for offshore and littoral waters

Vympel Shipyard, a division of Russia's state-owned United Shipbuilding Corporation, has handed over a new small hydrographic survey vessel to the Russian Navy.

The vessel has been named Yakov Lapushkin in honour of a navy admiral best known for heading the Soviet Navy's hydrographic arm during the Second World War. It is the fifth to be built for the Russian Navy under the Project 19910 series, which was designed to also perform secondary duties including pilot transfers, maintenance of aids to navigation, and transport of personnel and cargo to unprepared ports in addition to hydrographic surveys.

The vessel has a length of 56.4 metres, a beam of 11.18 metres, a draught of 3.01 metres, a depth of 5.4 metres, a full load displacement of 1,227 tonnes, and accommodations for 17 crewmembers and five survey technicians. Two 1,000kW diesel generators drive electric motors connected to azimuthing fixed-pitch propellers to deliver a top speed of 12.5 knots and a range of 2,000 nautical miles at a cruising speed of 10 knots. The vessel can also stay out at sea for up to 15 days.

The electronics suite includes two radars, a motion reference unit, a sound velocimeter, single and multibeam echosounders. These and other onboard systems draw power from a 100kW generator. Also fitted are a crane, a winch, and two hydraulic folding platforms.

Design work on Yakov Lapushkin was provided by naval architecture firm Vympel Design Bureau. The vessel will be operated in both offshore and shallow littoral waters even in mild surface ice conditions.

Some of our readers have expressed disquiet at our publication of reviews and articles describing new vessels from Russia. We at Baird Maritime can understand and sympathise with those views. However, despite the behaviour of the country's leaders, we believe that the maritime world needs to learn of the latest developments in vessel design and construction there.