The seventh Project 12700 Alexandrit-class mine countermeasures ship for Russian Navy was floated out.

According to information published by the Russian press agency TASS on November 26, 2021, the Project 12700 Alexandrit-class seventh mine countermeasures ship Anatoly Shlemov was floated out at the Sredne-Nevsky Shipyard in St. Petersburg on Friday, November 26, 2021.
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The Alexandrit-class, Russian designation Project 12700 Aleksandrit is the newest class of Russian minesweepers designed by Almaz and being built by the Sredne-Nevsky Shipyard for the Russian Navy. (Picture source Wikimedia)

The Project 12700 (Alexandrite-class) seventh mine countermeasures ship Anatoly Shlemov slated could enter into service with Russia’s Pacific Fleet in 2022. The next warship of this series is set to be floated out in April 2022, Sredne-Nevsky Shipyard Head Vladimir Seredokho said. The warship is expected to be named after Soviet submarine officer, Rear Admiral Lev Chernavin.

The first serial Project 12700 minesweeper Georgy Kurbatov was laid down in 2015, launched in September 2020, and was expected to be handed over to the Navy in late 2021. The minesweeper was initially planned to join the Navy in the fourth quarter of 2016, however, the warship caught fire on June 7, 2016. Six hundred square meters of the internal coating were ablaze and the fire was rated 3 out of five possible points. The fire delayed the commissioning by several years.

The minesweeper Anatoly Shlemov was laid down in July 2019. The vessel is the Project 12700 seventh ship built on order from the Russian Navy. The warship has been named after Vice-Admiral Anatoly Shlemov who served in the Navy’s Main Shipbuilding Department and subsequently worked as the director of the United Shipbuilding Corporation’s Defense Procurement Department.

Project 12700 has been engineered by the Almaz Central Marine Design Bureau (part of the United Shipbuilding Corporation) and represents a new generation of mine countermeasures ships. The warships of this Project feature the world’s largest unique hull made of monolithic fiberglass. The unique hull enhances the warship’s strength and ensures much improved anti-mine resistance.

Russia’s Project 12700 Alexandrite-class coastal-type minesweepers are designated to fight sea mines, which the new ships can encounter in the sea and on the seabed without entering the danger zone. The minesweepers can employ various sweeps, as well as remotely controlled and autonomous underwater drones.