According to the Krylov Shipbuilding Research Institute, the new vessel will be able to operate autonomously in the Arctic for up to three months, a press release reads. It will have technological solutions enabling it to do exploration drilling with a major level of preciseness. A system of combined positioning based on both anchors and dynamic models will be applied. Included are also the socalled winterization system and unique emergency mechanisms, the institute says.
Drilling operations can be made in ice layers of up to 1,5 meters and under conditions of Arctic storms.
The ship concept was presented by the institute in early September this year. It has been designed on the request of the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade. It is part of the federal development programme for civil shipbuilding for the period 2009-2016.
If built, the drilling ship will be Russia’s by far most advanced vessel of its kind.
