OREANDA-NEWS. March 13, 2009. The naming ceremony for Kapitan Avdyukov, a new tug ordered by the Sovcomflot (SCF) Group, took place on 10 March 2009. The vessel forms part of Sovcomflot Group’s strategy to develop its terminals management business. This envisages, in particular, providing port, salvage and environmental protection vessels to build up the existing capabilities of Russia’s oil trans-shipment ports and improve their quality of service.

The ceremony was held at the Sanmar Denizcilik Shipyards in Tuzla (Republic of Turkey). It was attended by the Senior Council of the Consulate General of the Russian Federation, Alexander Yepifanov, the Harbour Master of the Port of Murmansk, Sergey Didenko and representatives of SCF Group’s management team.

The new vessel is named after Vladimir Avdyukov – a famous Arctic researcher and Russia’s outstanding maritime transport manager.

Kapitan Avdyukov is the first in a series of three tugs designed to facilitate the safe operation of tankers in Kola Bay. Two similar tugs of 3660 kW and 2460 kW capacity, Kapitan Popov and Kapitan Reutov, will join the Group’s fleet in July – August 2009. All the tugs will be registered in the Russian Maritime Register of Shipping, with Murmansk as their port of registry. The vessels will all fly the flag of the Russian Federation.

Kapitan Avdyukov (project Sanmar 2800E) is a modern, highly manoeuvrable tug of 3660 kW equipped with Azimuth thrusters and with a bollard pull of 60 tonnes. The vessel has been designed to operate in the low temperatures of the Northern latitudes. The tug is equipped with bow and stern towing winches and an external fire fighting system. It is capable of escorting large ocean-going tankers. Kapitan Avdyukov meets all the requirements of the relevant international conventions and the leading classification societies.

The tug joined the Group’s fleet on 11 March 2009.

The SCF Group – is one of Russia’s largest infrastructural enterprises. Its fleet comprises 133 vessels of 9.5 million tonnes (dwt) in total, and the shipbuilding portfolio includes 32 ships of an aggregate deadweight of 2.6 million tonnes (dwt). The average age of vessel in the tanker fleet is less than six years (the world average age is 12 years). SCF Group is a world leader in the product carrier segment; it is the second in the Aframax tanker segment and owns the largest ice fleet. These market segments are the most in demand for Russia’s foreign trade. The Group’s services include not only transporting hydrocarbons for its customers, but also trans-shipping crude oil via FSO facilities and developing effective logistics for transporting energy. As part of its strategy to develop its oil terminal management business in Russia, Sovcomflot concluded a contract with the Leningrad Pella Shipyard (St. Petersburg) for the construction of four modern berthing tugs. The delivery of the first tug in this series is scheduled for November 2009.

Vladimir Avdyukov (1933 – 2009) – sea captain, honorary Arctic researcher and Russia’s outstanding maritime transport manager. He started work in 1958, aboard the vessels of the Murmansk Shipping Company. From 1990 until 2007 he was a Captain and Harbour Master’s Mate in the port of Murmansk. He published more than 27 scientific articles about the safety of navigation and contributed a lot to the development of maritime shipping in the North of Russia. Vladimir Avdyukov was awarded the titles “Honorary Arctic Researcher”, “Honorary Worker of the Merchant Marine of the Russian Federation”, “Honorary Transport Worker of the Russian Federation”. He was awarded the medals “Veteran of Labour” and “300th Anniversary of the Russian Fleet” and was granted many Honorary Diplomas and Letters of Gratitude.