OREANDA-NEWS. September 7, 2011. Launched in July 2011, the fifth ship of a series of ten dry bulk carriers of project RSD 44 Kapitan Sergeev wad delivered to Volga Shipping Company on September 6. The bulker was built by Navashino-based Okskaya Shipyard (Nizhny Novgorod Region), Marine Engineering Bureau said.

The bulk carriers of RSD 44 project, developed by Marine Engineering Bureau will gradually replace the previous Volga-Don serial ships to carry bulk, general cargo and containers.

The RSD-44 project is financed through the leasing scheme of state support of domestic shipbuilding: co-financing by the state-run United Shipbuilding Corporation (85%) and Volga Shipping (15%) on the terms of state subsidy of refinancing interest rate of Central Bank of Russia.
Ships specifications: length DWL - 138.9 m, beam - 16,5 m, depth - 5 m, coaming height - 2,2 m, fresh water draft 3,6 m DWT - 5,543 tons, salt water draft 3.53 m DWT - 5,562 tons, cargo hold volume - 7090 cbm; Russian River Register Class - + O-OL 2,0 (ice 20) A.

The dry cargo ships will be operated on the Volga-Don Ship Canal (VDSK), Volga-Baltic Canal, in the Azov Sea to the port of Kavkaz and in the Gulf of Finland. The vessels will be able to pass under the Neva bridges near St. Petersburg and under Rostov railway bridge (Rostov-on-Don).

The series lead ship Kapitan Ruzmankin was launched in Nov, 2010.

Navashino-based Okskaya Shipyard (Nizhny Novgorod region) was founded in 1907. JSC Okskaya Shipyard was established through privatization of the state enterprise Navashino Shipyard “Oka”. The shipyard specializes in building of multipurpose river and sea-going vessels. In 2004, JSC Okskaya Shipyard became part of VBTH majority owned by Universal Cargo Logistics Holding.

JSC Volga Shipping Company, founded in 1843, is one of the oldest and largest shipping companies in Russia. VSC specializes in transportation of cargo and passengers on inland waterways of the country. In the period from April 1 through December 1, 2010, the shipping company’s 188 cargo ships carried 5,5 million tons of cargo, a 21-percent increase year-over-year. The company owns and operates the fleet of 250 cargo and passenger vessels. Volga Shipping Company is part of the Universal Cargo Logistics Holding that consolidates a number of Russian stevedoring, shipping and shipbuilding assets.