Russia takes delivery of patrol boats

The Russian Customs Service has taken delivery of three 14.7 metre patrol boats, designed by South African company Icarus Marine. The steel vessels are designed for the harsh conditions of northern Russia.

Gunther Migeotte from Icarus Marine told defenceWeb that the three boats were officially handed over on November 9 and will be used in the White Sea around Murmansk and Arkhangelsk.

The boats were designed by Icarus Marine and built by Sosnovka Shipyard and manufactured out of steel. It is quite unusual for such high speed patrol boats to be built out of steel – the material of choice is usually fibreglass or aluminium. In this case steel was chosen for ease of maintenance and for durability when operating in Russian winter ice. Migeotte said that shipyards in Russia’s far north only work with steel, hence it will be easy to repair the boats up there.

The patrol boats have a top speed of 37 knots under full load, carry four crew and five passengers. Power is provided by two Cummins QSM11 engines delivering 705 hp and driving two Castoldi TD400HC waterjets.

Icarus Marine designs vessels, which are then built by various shipyards, but the company also provides engineering support. Much of Icarus Marine’s work comes from the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) countries. Projects have been undertaken in Malaysia, India, Hong Kong, Kuwait amongst others. Around 90% of the company’s work is for overseas clients and around 50% is civil, with the rest being for military and paramilitary customers.

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Article courtesy of Defence Web.