Zapravsky Sailor: the tanker "Engineer-Admiral Kotov" was launched

The medium sea tanker "Engineer-Admiral Kotov" launched on December 5 became the third in the series of Project 23130. According to experts interviewed by Izvestiya, such auxiliary vessels are necessary for the Russian Navy to fulfill its tasks in the far sea and oceanic zone. The tanker can simultaneously refuel three ships on the move.

Additions to the auxiliary fleet of the Russian Navy

The medium sea tanker "Engineer-Admiral Kotov" was launched on December 5 in St. Petersburg, the Russian Defense Ministry reported. It was built by the Nevsky Shipbuilding and Ship Repair Plant, which is part of the United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC).

The military department said that the tanker is designed to receive, store, transport and transfer various liquid cargoes for the fleet: fuel oil, diesel fuel, motor oil, aviation kerosene, fresh water. Dry cargo transportation is also possible, including various technical and skipper's equipment and foodstuffs.

- The event is very important for the Navy. The advantage of these tankers is the possibility of simultaneous refueling of three ships on the move. Its main purpose is to ensure long-distance trips of ships, - said the head of the auxiliary fleet service of the Navy Main Command, Captain First Rank Anzor Dandamaev.

The tanker can transfer and receive liquid cargoes from board to board without mooring to another ship, and also do it in a keel-water way. In addition, it can give fuel simultaneously to three ships coming from it at a distance of 50 to 100 meters.

These are the largest ships that have ever been launched in the history of the plant, which turns 111 years old in 2024. The tanker was named in honor of the hereditary shipbuilder Pavel Kotov. His grandfather built the cruiser Aurora, his father built line ships for the Baltic Fleet, and the engineer-admiral himself participated in the development of the nuclear-powered missile cruiser Pyotr Veliky and the world's largest strategic nuclear submarine Typhoon.

Supply in long-distance campaigns

Russia does not have many places on the world map where our ships can replenish their supplies during long-distance cruises, military expert Vasily Dandykin told Izvestia.

- Now we have such bases in Sudan and in the Mediterranean Sea," he specified. - Therefore, warships without an auxiliary fleet that provides them with fuel and food are not functional. Displacement of 12 thousand tons is enough to provide everything necessary for two or three ships of such class as "Admiral Gorshkov" - a multi-purpose frigate of the first rank with guided missile armament of the far sea and ocean zone. It is gratifying that the program is being implemented, because the combat readiness of our fleet directly depends on it. And if it is made for the Northern Fleet, it means that it has enhanced ice protection, which will allow it to break through ice of a certain thickness without the help of icebreakers.

As the expert noted, the ability to transport aviation kerosene on tankers is very important.

- Each of our frigates has a helicopter. But in the future, when our heavy aircraft-carrying cruiser - the flagship of the Russian Navy "Admiral of the Soviet Union Fleet Kuznetsov" - goes to sea, we will need more than one tanker, - summarized Vasily Dandykin.

We have problems with our auxiliary fleet - the tankers are quite old and, of course, launching another one is a great help to our Navy, Ilya Kramnik, a researcher at the Institute of World Economy and International Relations of the Russian Academy of Sciences, told Izvestia.

- "Engineer-Admiral Kotov will be needed to accompany ships on long-distance cruises," he noted. - He will provide them with fuel. First of all, we are talking about ships of small and medium displacement: the tanker itself is quite small. It will be able to refuel a group of corvettes and frigates or a cruiser once or twice. We need a lot more ships like that. I hope that we will reach the point of building large ships of complex supply, as the Soviet "Berezina" was. They will be in demand if our military leadership decides that the country needs an oceanic fleet with large ships.

A fleet of "floating gas stations" is being created in the Arctic

Earlier "Izvestia" wrote that the Russian Defense Ministry plans to create a fleet of "floating gas stations" in the Arctic, which will include the "Engineer-Admiral Kotov". The first vessel of the project 23130 was a medium-sized marine tanker "Akademik Pashin". On January 21, 2020, the flag-raising procedure of the auxiliary fleet of the Russian Navy took place on it in a solemn atmosphere.

"Vasily Nikitin" became the second medium sea tanker of Project 23130. It was launched in 2023.

According to the plans of the military department, the tankers will not only supply fuel to warships at sea, but also provide resources for coastal infrastructure in the Arctic. According to Admiral Valentin Selivanov, former chief of the Navy's main staff, the Russian Navy's Northern Fleet was chosen as a priority for tanker replenishment because it is the largest and most active. Its ships sail to the Mediterranean Sea, to the shores of South America, and along the Northern Sea Route to Cape Dezhnev.