Admiral Gorshkov to reach Murmansk

The aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov is expected is to reach Murmansk in November 2011. The vessel is to be sold to India upon completion of the upgrade works.

The vessel will be delivered to Murmansk ship-repair yard # 35, say the unconfirmed sources at Sevmash. The aircraft carrier is expected to take performance tests and some further upgrade at the ship repair yard, informs the leak.

Originally known as Baku, the vessel was renamed after Admiral Gorshkov (Soviet naval officer) in 1991 following the Soviet Union collapse. The aircraft incident (see video below) brought the vessel to Murmansk in 1992 for repair works. In 1994, another incident happened aboard that took away the lives of 6 persons as a result of a steampipe explosion.

In 1994, Russia started the sales negotiations with India at the price of $974 mln for rehabilitation and modernisation of Admiral Gorshkov. The contract was signed in 2004. However, the story took other returns: the deadlines were repeatedly exceeded while the contract price has reached 2,3 bln USD. In 2007, the breach of the contract deadlines ousted the ex-director of Sevmash, Vladimir Pastukhov, out of his position; this week the Sevmash board will confirm resignation of the current director - Nikolay Kalistratov (one of the formal reasons - another exceeded dealine for Admiral Gorshkov reconstruction). The experts assume that the new resignation may push the reconstruction deadline further that is currently believed to be in late 2012.

Late in 2010, Sevmash as a general contractor for Prirazlomnaya platform owned by Gazprom started upgrading the facilities of the Murmansk-based ship repair yard # 35. The stem structure of Prirazlomnaya was mounted at Sevmash (Severodvinsk, Arkhangelsk region), yet shallow waters of the White Sea would not allow to proceed with the construction without relocating the platform to Murmansk. According to the initial plans, Prirazlomnaya is expected to be ready by August 2011 before the arrival of Admiral Glushkov. However, presently Sevmash cannot confirm the deadlines. Update.
 
Photo: Baku vessel, Wikimedia Commons
Video: aircraft accident (October 3, 1991) on Admiral Gorshkov that brought the vessel to Murmansk for repairs in 1992. The author of the video is unknown.