 PD-50 (left) inRoslyakovo, August 2016 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
  Soviet Union, Russia | |
| Name | PD-50 (ПД-50) |
| Owner | Shipyard No. 82 (Rosneft; 2013–) |
| Ordered | March 1978 |
| Builder | Götaverken Arendal,Gothenburg,Sweden |
| Yard number | 910 |
| Completed |
|
| In service | 1980–2018 |
| Homeport | Murmansk,Russia |
| Fate | Sank on 30 October 2018 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Floating dry dock |
| Tonnage | 181,230 DWT |
| Displacement |
|
| Length | 330 m (1,082 ft 8 in) |
| Beam | 88 m (288 ft 9 in) |
| Draught | 6.116 m (20 ft 0.8 in) |
| Propulsion | None |
| Capacity | 80,000 tonnes |
| Crew | 175 |
PD-50 (Russian:ПД-50), Soviet designationProject 7454, was a Russian largefloating dry dock built at theGötaverken Arendal shipyard inGothenburg, Sweden and commissioned in the 1980s. At the time, it was the world's largest floating dry dock and used primarily to service the ships and submarines of theNorthern Fleet.
The 330-metre-long (1,082 ft 8 in) and 79-metre-wide (259 ft 2 in) floating dock was owned byShipyard No. 82 and stationed atRoslyakovo, nearMurmansk.[1] In November 2018, the dock sank after a power outage while holding theaircraft carrier/aircraft cruiserAdmiral Kuznetsov.[2]
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In March 1978,Götaverken Arendal shipyard inGothenburg, Sweden was awarded a contract for the construction of the world's largest floating dry dock for theSoviet Union.[3] While the company had previously built mainlyoil tankers andbulk carriers, it was struggling for new orders after demand for one of its main products had dwindled following the1973 oil crisis, and bidding for the dry dock was one of the shipyard's attempts to diversify its portfolio.[4] With an agreed-upon delivery time of 18 months from the date of contract signing,[3] the work was split between two shipyards in order to speed up construction: Götaverken Arendal built five of the seven sections while the nearbyEriksbergs Mekaniska Verkstad supplied the remaining two; the sections were joined together afloat usingunderwater welding.[5] The floating dock was namedPD-50 (Russian:ПД-50); "PD" being short for "Plavuchiy Dok" (Russian:Плавучий док,lit. 'floating dock').
In August 1979, the nearly-finishedPD-50 was towed toopen sea for trials. During the final test, which involved finding out how fast the submerged dock could be deballasted, twoballast water tanks partially collapsed due to underpressure. The floating dry dock was hastily towed back to Arendal with visible denting on the shell plating and the shipyard workers scrambled to fix the damage. The repairs were completed in early September, andPD-50 was handed over to the customer.[3][4][5]
On 22 September 1979,PD-50 began its delivery voyage toMurmansk under tow by two Dutchtugboats,Smit Rotterdam andSmit London. On 3 October, after sailing around theNorwegian coast, the floating dry dock broke free in a storm and was blown ashore on the Soviet side of theNorwegian border.[3][5] The grounding of the brightly-illuminatedPD-50 was witnessed bySoviet border guards who later described the incident as if a small city had appeared from the sea, only to be driven on the rocks by the storm.[4]
While damage to the grounded dry dock was extensive,PD-50 was deemed repairable. After refloating, it was towed first toKirkenes, Norway and later to a Norwegian shipyard inStord. The repairs included liftingPD-50 fully out of the water using pontoons[4] and replacing 4,000 tonnes of steel.[5] In September 1980, one year after the grounding,PD-50 finally reached Murmansk.[3]
On 29 December 2011, the RussianDelta IV-class nuclear submarineEkaterinburg (K-84) caught fire while being docked inPD-50. The fire was extinguished by partially submergingPD-50 twice with the K-84 on top.[6]
In 2013, Russian oil companyRosneft took over Shipyard No. 82 and its assets, includingPD-50, in preparation for turning the old naval shipyard into a base for the company's Arctic operations. This caused outrage in naval circles, as the shipyard was one of the few in Russia with facilities capable of docking the country's largest surface vessels.[7][8]
On 30 October 2018, the Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov was damaged whenPD-50 suddenly sank under it,[9] causing one of the dock's 70-ton cranes to crash onto the ship's flight deck.[10] One shipyard worker went missing and four others required medical attention, one of whom later died at the hospital.[11]
In July 2019,Zvezdochka Ship Repair Center JSC [ru] andSaint Petersburg company Investments Engineering Construction (I.I.S.) signed a contract for reconstruction and modernization ofShipyard No. 35 in Murmansk. As part of the RUB20 billion (US$311.5 million) deal, two adjacent dry docks at the plant will be merged into a single dock by demolishing a partition between them. Walls,slipways and other dock equipment will be modernized. After the modernization, it will be the largest dry dock in Russia, capable of docking Russia's sole aircraft carrierAdmiral Kuznetsov, as well as other of Russia's largest vessels, such as the battlecruiserPyotr Velikiy.[12][13] As of December 2019, work on reconstruction of the shipyard was underway.[14][unreliable source?]
ЧП с плавучим доком ПД-50 (принадлежит 82-му судоремонтному заводу)
Due to interruptions in the supply of electric power to the PD-50, the floating dock dived out in an off-design mode.
the submarine Yekaterinburg caught fire on PD-50 in 2011 while loaded with nuclear missiles and had to be flooded twice to put out the blaze.
Rescuers are searching for a missing ship-worker. Four others needed medical attention after falling into the icy sea. Russian officials insist the damage is "not critical" but the 70-tonne crane caused a gash on the Kuznetsov's deck of up to 5m (16ft).
Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in 2018 | |
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| Shipwrecks |
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| Other incidents |
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