TASS Russian news agency
“The warship was laid in December 2017. The construction of composite hull and superstructure and installation of various systems and mechanisms were completed in December 2019. The ship left the slipway for the final construction of the mast, antennas and general equipment,”
Sredne-Nevsky Shipyard
The shipyard will complete the construction at the embankment and begin mooring trials. In spring, the warship will sail out for factory running trials. It is to be handed over to the customer in the summer of 2020.
The Yakov Balyaev is the fourth minesweeper built by Sredne-Nevsky Shipyard. The Alexander Obukhov lead minesweeper became operational in 2016. The Ivan Antonov was handed over to the Navy in late 2018. The Vladimir Yemelyanov third minesweeper joined the Navy in December 2019. The shipyard is building three minesweepers of project 12700 — the Georgy Kurbatov, the Petr Ilyichev and the Anatoly Shlemov.
Minesweepers of project 12700 have the biggest fiberglass hull in the world. It is highly durable against steel hulls and ensures better survivability. The service life of monolith fiberglass hull is longer than that of low-magnetic steel and the weight of the hull is considerably lower. The displacement is close to 900 tons, the length is over 60 meters and the width is 10 meters. The speed is 16.5 knots. The crew comprises 44 men. The ship can operate various flails and remotely guided and unmanned underwater craft.
