Turkey is transporting a ship for Russia through the Black Sea

Turkey has started transporting a new Russian floating dock across the Black Sea to arrive at the shipbuilding facilities in Murmansk.

Turkish blogger Yörük Işık published a photo of the ships passing through the Bosphorus on his page.

On September 18, the Russian floating dock of the FD05 project, built at a Turkish shipyard, crossed the 30-kilometre-long Bosphorus Strait towards the Black Sea.

The published photos capture that it was towed by vessels of the Turkish Coastal Police, which ensures navigation in this area.

From Kuzey Star Shipyard in Istanbul, the Russian vessel is heading to Murmansk, where the infrastructure of the Russian shipbuilding company Atomflot is located.

The vessel is to be taken from the Black Sea to the Don River, from where it will follow the Volga-Don Waterway to the Baltic Sea. After that, it will have to pass through the White Sea-Baltic Canal to reach the White and Barents Seas.

Russian dock for Atomflot

The Russian shipbuilding company ordered the FD05 floating dock specifically to service its Project 22220 nuclear-powered icebreakers.

The contract for its construction, worth about $68 million, was signed on June 7, 2021. The dock was laid on March 15, 2022, and launched at the end of September 2023.

The design of the dock was developed by the Russian Marine Engineering Bureau. Its key features include:

• The carrying capacity – 30 thousand tonnes;
• Length with crinolines – at least 220 m;
• Length on the slipway deck – at least 200 m;
• Width – about 48 m;
• Pontoon height – about 6 m;
• Crew – 30 people;
• Autonomy – 7 days.

For proper operation, the dock is equipped with a power plant consisting of four 840 kW diesel generators and one 120 kW emergency diesel generator.

The floating dock was launched in November 2023. The launching operation was a record for the entire Turkish industry, as the dock weighed 11,350 tonnes.

Last week, Russia launched a heavy anti-ship cruise missile at a merchant ship transporting grain to Egypt through the Black Sea.