Sea trials completed for Russian buoy tender pair

Russian shipyard Kingisepp Machine-Building Plant has completed conducting sea trials of two new buoy tenders in a series ordered from the company by Rechvodput, the main inland waterway transport agency of the Russian government.

Styerkh and Cibis belong to the Project 3050.1A series of buoy tenders built by Kingisepp Machine-Building Plant to a design by the Gorky Central Design Bureau.

The vessels will be used primarily for maintenance of buoys and other aids to navigation in inland waterways. Secondary duties include monitoring of water depths and handling non-self-propelled barges of 400 tonnes displacement or lower.

The new Rechvodput buoy tenders each have a length of 26.8 metres, a beam of 4.2 metres, a draught of only one metre, a 220kW engine, and a crew of six. The vessels will be able to operate for up to six days before returning to port.

The buoy tenders will be operated by the Rechvodput branch office responsible for maintaining the Amur River near the Russia-China border.