The first barge built for Nornickel’s Yenisei River Shipping Company was launched at the Samus shipyard. The contract to build 10 barges worth over 2 billion roubles was signed in May 2021.

The standard design of the barges (project RDB 66.68M) was modified to suit the needs of the shipping company, so that the vessels can operate both in sea and river conditions. Reducing the barge’s size and weight while maintaining its lifting capacity will reduce towing fuel costs. The barge has a length of 92 metres, a dock weight of 700 tonnes, and a capacity of 3,000 tonnes in river conditions and 2,500 tonnes in sea conditions.

“Growing cargo traffic is increasing our need for new vessels. This year the Yenisei River Shipping Company’s cargo turnover will soar by 20% compared to 2021, and the growth will continue in the future. New barges will make it possible to promptly deliver more machinery, equipment, containers, pipes and other cargo to the Taimyr Peninsula, and to transport it for the needs of regional housing and utilities, steel, mining and energy companies,” said Olga Ksanf, General Director of Nornickel-ERP, the managing firm of the Yenisey River Shipping Company.

**Shipyard staff and Samus residents look on as the new barge launches**

The Samus shipyard is contracted to hand over two barges to the shipping company in 2022, four in 2023 and another four in 2024.

“We are working ahead of schedule and plan to hand over three barges at once by the end of the year. The second vessel will be launched in the next few days and the third one is scheduled for launch in September. After technical tests of the vessels they will be delivered to Dudinka port by the Northern Sea Route”, said Nikolay Vdovenko, Samus Shipyard Director.

The multipurpose barges will help Nornickel build the sulphur capture and utilisation factories, deliver the large-scale Norilsk renovation programme, which runs until 2035, and other investment projects. The modern transport and logistics scheme developed by Nornickel today ensures uninterrupted operation of production facilities and timely delivery of finished products to customers.

Samus Shipyard launches first new river barge for Nornickel’s ship operator