Building ships. Shipyard. Shipbuilding

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

Shipbuilding activities are necessary for every maritime power, and therefore the construction of ships almost never stops. Any activity at sea has always been considered very profitable, and this is how things are now. In world practice, the construction of ships ensures the transportation of goods, and the cost of freight within the oceans is up to two hundred and fifty billion dollars annually. Only seafood and fish are harvested annually at a cost of up to forty billion dollars. The construction of ships is also necessary for the production of gas and oil on the offshore shelves, which is also estimated at up to one hundred billion dollars a year. The world market of shipbuilding products operates with amounts from seventy to eighty billion dollars a year.

Country security

But the most important thing at the present time is the construction of ships to ensure active activity on the seas, transport and economic security of the state, especially if there are separate enclaves. This is how geopolitical problems are solved, additional jobs appear, and employment of the population increases. All these reasons at the same time - this isexplanation that all the world's leading powers are constantly developing the national shipbuilding industry, thus increasing the number of major suppliers of technical equipment that supports maritime activities.

The Russian shipbuilding industry, for example, has accumulated vast experience in building vessels and ships of all types and for all purposes. The construction of ships is carried out by many shipbuilding enterprises in the Russian Federation, and for this the country does not need to look for partners abroad. We have an excellent steel industry that provides the shipbuilding industry with unique non-magnetic high-strength steels and alloys. All world-class structural materials can be produced directly in our country.

Veteran Shipbuilder

In 1719, the largest hydraulic structure in Europe, the Staraya Ladoga Canal, was built, which immediately took on a huge cargo flow. The ships required repairs and maintenance. But only in 1913, the Nevsky Shipbuilding Plant, one of the flagships of the domestic shipbuilding industry, was opened. More than three hundred ships of various purposes were built there in the first years alone - both passenger ships, tugboats, and river-sea ships. The Nevsky Shipyard quickly mastered new technologies, increased production capacity, being engaged not only in shipbuilding, but also in traditional ship repair.

Since 2009, it has been consistently loaded with shipbuilding orders from various Russian companies. Vessels of all types are built here on a turnkey basis, but they are also involved in ship repairclose: navigational, current, medium repairs, as well as modernization, re-equipment of ships. The ship building plant is conveniently located: a large waterway - the Volga-B altic Canal - allows you to transport already completed orders both by inland routes and to the international seaport of St. Petersburg.

Factory today

At the Nevsky Shipyard, work is carried out with high quality, reliably and in a timely manner. This is ensured by the most modern equipment, modernized production and, of course, the professionalism of the company's specialists and their exceptional skills. Nevsky Shipyard is certified by the leading classification societies: Germanischer Lloyd, Det Norske Veritas, Bureau Veritas, Lloyd's Register of Shipping, as well as the Russian River Register, the Russian Maritime Register of Shipping.

Now this enterprise is modern and dynamically developing, they are able to solve the most complex technological and technical problems in order to produce products that are in demand by consumers and meet international standards. The company works with both domestic and foreign customers.

Middle Nevsky Plant

Nearby, in 1912, the Ust-Izhora Shipyard was laid down, which later became the Sredne-Nevsky Shipyard, one of the main suppliers building ships for the Navy. The plant has a long and glorious history. However, it is even more interesting to watch him work today.

In the 2000s. wasa complete modernization of production was carried out, since the plant was included in the target program for the development of the country's military-industrial complex. Key industrial facilities, the bench base of research institutes and design bureaus, where ships are designed, were re-equipped. New machines and equipment, tooling, all software products were purchased.

New time

Already in 2003, the construction of a series of three-tier superstructures for corvettes began, and in 2008 the multi-purpose vessel "Ataman" and the floating filling station "Lukoil" were launched. In 2011, a world record in technology was set here by forming a monolithic fiberglass ship hull sixty-two meters long. In the same year, construction began on a series of basic minesweepers for the Navy.

In 2013, the construction of carbon fiber ships was mastered, and work began on the creation of a series of offshore minesweepers and tugs at the ship building site. In subsequent years, many high awards were received for their contribution to the country's defense capability. In terms of composite construction, this plant has no equal in Russia. In 2016, the lead ship of a new generation, designed for mine defense, "Alexander Obukhov", was handed over to the Russian Navy, and in 2017 two more were laid down - "Vladimir Yemelyanov" and "Ivan Antonov", and a new one was handed over to the customer minesweeper ready.

Shipyard "Vympel"

It all started in 1930 with the construction of motor boatsin Rybinsk, Yaroslavl region. During the war, the shipbuilding plant "Vympel" was reorganized into the production of boats with weapons - long-range torpedoes. In the post-war period, raid minesweepers were produced and at the same time a ship assembly shop was built, which exceeded all existing facilities in area. Fireboats have been built here since 1949 to this day. In the 60s. the production of marine hydrographic boats began and tugboats were launched in huge series.

And a little earlier, the fulfillment of orders from the Navy for the construction of missile boats (with cruise missiles), which proved to be excellent in military conflicts in the Indian Ocean and the Middle East, began and also continues to this day. Thanks to this success, a "boat boom" began in the world. In 1980, the Molniya lead missile boat was commissioned, which still has not left the level of world standards, surpassing all foreign models in terms of power plant and driving performance. The plant actively trades with the whole world: twenty-nine countries buy its boats.

Problems

Today, the entry into the world market of domestic shipbuilding is associated with a number of problems. This production area is very specific, requiring the presence of a huge number of related industries - mechanical engineering, metallurgy, electronics and much more. Shipbuilding naturally stimulates their development, thanks to such orders, related industries reach an ever higher scientific and technical level. One job in shipbuilding entailscreating four or five jobs in other industries.

But the problem is the huge science intensity of any modern ships and ships, as well as long cycles of project development and construction itself, respectively, the capital intensity is also high. And the industry in the country after Perestroika came to such a low level that most of the equipment has to be bought abroad. Domestic shipbuilding requires much more government support and development of related industries.

The position of the industry in the post-Soviet era

The borders of Russia are three-quarters of the sea. More than 60% of cargo turnover is carried out by sea vessels, mining is actively developing on our sea shelf. That is why the state should support its own shipbuilding. But things are different. The Russian fishing and merchant fleet found themselves on the verge of absolute extinction, despite the fact that this situation brings enormous damage from the economic side, and most importantly, national security is under attack.

Everything suggests that Russia has ceased to be the leading maritime power. The domestic fleet practically does not participate in the transportation of foreign trade cargo (2001 - 4% of foreign trade cargo passing through Russian ports, and in 1980 it was more than 65%). And this is more than three billion dollars a year lost. Civil aviation has also left this market - domestic aircraft do not fly abroad, and this is another billion dollars of damage. And the fleet follows the sameway: decreases both in tonnage and in quantity from year to year, disappears inexorably and steadily.

Building ships

Ships under the Russian flag are twenty years old, there are no such old ships in any country in the world. And the volume of construction of civil ships in Russia does not provide compensation for losses. In Soviet times, forty or more ships were built a year. And in 2001, six of them were built. And it was necessary at least three hundred to master the required carrying capacity. These negative tendencies must be reversed by accelerating the replenishment of the merchant fleet with the most modern ships. Now every ship at the shipyard is expensive, but economically favorable conditions for mass construction have not yet been created.

However, things are even worse with the fishing fleet. The fishing industry has drastically reduced the number of vessels, and therefore the annual volume of fish catch has been reduced to horrendous numbers. If in 1989 the country produced more than eleven million tons of fish and seafood, then in 2000 - only three million tons. Since then, this number has decreased several times. Almost all fishing vessels have exceeded their service life and require replacement, however, the fleet is replenished very weakly, practically in no way. In Soviet times, more than a hundred fishing vessels were launched annually, now they are built less than ten a year - five or six.

The situation today

In the past few years, certain steps have been taken to correct the disastrous situation. Not all problems have been solved, but some encouraging figures and factscan already be brought. Today, one hundred and seventy enterprises operate in Russian shipbuilding in the following speci alties: ship repair and shipbuilding - 65, electrical engineering, ship engineering - 43, marine instrumentation - 56, plus 6 enterprises of related activities. Today, the industry can already build ships and vessels of absolutely all types with a maximum displacement of one hundred thousand tons.

The industry employs more than two hundred thousand people. This suggests that the situation is gradually stabilizing. There are 56 research institutes and design organizations working for domestic shipbuilding, which specialize in all types of design work. These are shipbuilding and shipbuilding, marine instrumentation, ship engineering and electronics. Many research institutes have received state status.

Defense

The growth rate of production of the military-industrial complex is growing, including in the construction of military ships, in contrast to civilian shipbuilding. However, quite recently, the level of military shipbuilding, as well as technological, fell so low that irreversible processes almost set in. Today, positive developments can be seen with one's own eyes and one can hope that domestic shipbuilding will continue to expand in the future, and the industry will continue its reform.

Historically, there has been a certain disunity between designers and builders. And reforming the industry should first of all eliminate such cases by creating integrated structures. The products of the industry are extremely complex engineering structures of our time, and it is necessary to build here immediately"clean", bypassing all sorts of prototypes. Therefore, well-coordinated work is needed, and preliminary conceptual developments and the precise formation of the technical appearance of ships and ships are necessary. The defense capability of the country depends on this.

Central Research Institute named after Academician A. N. Krylova

This research institute could well again become the "lookout" of the industry, as it was before Perestroika, that is, the leading scientific center. It is initially the focus of scientific developments and all conceivable experimental means regarding shipbuilding areas.

technology and much, much more. This is a unique and the only institute in Russia that accompanied the design, construction and commissioning of ships and ships of all types and purposes. First of all, the activity of the institute is necessary for the Navy.