Research Ship Seliger Hoists Russian Naval Ensign

25.12.2012 Research ship Seliger built by JSC Yantar Shipyard (Kaliningrad, Russia) was delivered to Russian Navy today, on Dec 25. Signing ceremony of acceptance certificate and hoisting of naval ensign took place in Temriuk, within responsibility area of Black Sea Fleet (BSF).

The solemn ceremony was attended by representatives of Russian defense ministry's Deep-Sea Research Department, Ministry of Trade and Industry, manufacturing shipyard and the Almaz Design Bureau.

The acceptance certificate was signed by the chairman of the state commission Sergei Simonenko and deputy director general of Yantar shipyard Alexander Konovalov.

After hoisting of the Russian naval ensign, the head of the seed-sea research department VADM Alexei Burilichev expressed gratitude to the Yantar shipbuilders who "put Seliger for service in Russian armed forces". He also emphasized the unicity of the new ship. "It is the only dynamic positioning ship in the Black Sea", Burilichev said.

Research ship Seliger is designed for equipment testing, deep-sea researches, and search-and-rescue works. It is the lead ship of Project 11982 developed by JSC Almaz Design Bureau. Russian defense ministry and the shipyard signed the shipbuilding contract in Feb 2009. The ship was laid down on July 8, 2009 and launched on July 29, 2011. First phase of the shipyard's sea trials took place in the Baltic Sea in May 2012, and on July 20 the ship arrived in the port of Temriuk via inland waterways. The second shipyard's sea trials started in the Black Sea in Sept, and then began state acceptance trials. On Nov 27, Seliger finished them and started preparations for delivery.

Yantar Shipyard (Kaliningrad, Russia) was established on July 8, 1945 on the basis of Koenigsberg shipyards F. Schichau. It is specialized in construction of light and intermediate tonnage naval and civil vessels as well as ship repair works. Through the 67-year long history, the yard has built 156 warships and over 500 civil vessels. Currently, Yantar's majority shareholder is Russian Government represented by United Shipbuilding Corporation.