December 12, 2019, 18:50 / Politics

The fire on the Admiral Kuznetsov will delay the completion of its repairs by at least a year

But the fleet will not give up its only aircraft carrier Ivan Safronov

Fire on the cruiser "Admiral Kuznetsov" / Lev Fedoseev / TASS

On Thursday, a serious fire occurred on the only Russian aircraft-carrying cruiser, Admiral Kuznetsov, which was undergoing scheduled repairs at the pier of the 35th ship repair plant (SRZ) in Murmansk, as a result of which more than ten people were injured. As a source in the shipbuilding industry told Vedomosti, the cause of the fire was a violation of safety rules when handling open fire.

During welding work to dismantle the old structural elements of the first energy compartment, a sheaf of sparks fell into the hold space, which contained the remains of fuel oil, which ignited over an area of about 20 square meters. m, says the interlocutor. At first, plant employees tried to cope with the fire on their own, but the fire quickly spread (a few hours later the flames had already engulfed 600 sq. m), and the cable braid began to smolder, causing the release of acrid smoke. As a result, it was decided to evacuate all personnel and military personnel in the amount of 400 people. More than ten people were injured, most of them were poisoned by combustion products. The fire was still being extinguished at the time of submission of this material.

As of 17.30 Moscow time, clearing of a localized source of smoke continues in one of the compartments of the aircraft-carrying cruiser Admiral Kuznetsov, a representative of the press service of the Northern Fleet told Vedomosti. There is no spread of smoke beyond the localized source, he added, clarifying that the ship’s regular fire brigades from among military personnel are taking part in extinguishing the fire, since they are well versed in the internal space of the cruiser.

This is the second incident with the Admiral Kuznetsov over the past year. In October 2018, in the floating dock PD-50, where the ship was being repaired, there was a power failure, and the floating dock suddenly went under water. The ship was towed to the berth of the 35th shipyard, although before the operation began, one of the 50-ton tower cranes of the floating dock collapsed on it, causing a total of 52 damage. The head of the United Shipbuilding Corporation ( USC ), Alexey Rakhmanov, estimated the damage at approximately 70 million rubles. Since there was no second floating dock with a similar displacement in the European part of Russia, the shipbuilders had to modernize the dry dock at the 35th shipyard by dismantling the partitions. Because of this, the ship’s delivery date from 2021 was postponed to the fourth quarter of 2022.

A fire occurred on the aircraft-carrying cruiser Admiral Kuznetsov

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Now the situation is much more serious, says a Vedomosti source close to the Russian Ministry of Defense: the extent of the damage caused to the cruiser will be known exactly after a special commission from the Northern Fleet command and shipbuilders carries out defect detection and determines the procedure for restoration work. But it is already clear that the cruiser’s delivery should not be expected even within the adjusted time frame, Vedomosti’s interlocutor is convinced: damage assessment alone may take several months, and the work itself will be extended for a year. Now the shipbuilders will have to not only install power equipment, new boilers, pumps, etc., but also actually re-lay the cables.

There is no talk of terminating the contract, assures Vedomosti’s interlocutor in the government apparatus: the costs of repairing the Admiral Kuznetsov, apparently, will have to be borne by the shipbuilders, and the 35th Shipyard will continue work on the ship, although the military often had problems with the plant claims - for example, in connection with the delay in repair of the large anti-submarine ship Admiral Chabanenko. There is no talk of decommissioning the Admiral Kuznetsov, says an interlocutor at the Navy General Staff, it must be returned to service at any cost, since construction of a new aircraft carrier will begin no earlier than 2030, and pilots from the 279th and 100th naval fighter regiments need practice not only on NITKA ground training simulators.