Sovcomflot has recently taken delivery of the state-of-the-art ice-class LR II tanker Viktor Bakaev, built at Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering’s Okpo yard in Korea.It is the fourth vessel to be built as part of an agreement between Sovcomflot and the Zvezda-DSME yard – a joint venture of United Shipbuilding Corporation (Russia) and Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (South Korea). The three other tankers – Nikolay Zuyev, Georgy Maslov and Anatoly Kolodkin – are already in operation.
The vessel was designed and built to Lloyd's Register's (LR) Environmental Protection ‘EP’ notation, which demonstrates an operator’s commitment to, and investment in, environmentally friendly ships and it is equipped with a ballast water treatment system. The design complies with LR's Ice-Class Rules and features a Van der Velden hydrodynamic rudder which enhances the manoeuvring and course-keeping performance.
Viktor Bakaev has also been verified by LR in accordance with the voluntary energy efficiency requirements of the IMO’s Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI) for new ships  while also features an Inventory of Hazardous Materials (IHM), in accordance with LR’s IHM service.
The ship’s bridge design complies with LR NAV1 and IBS requirements for centralised monitoring and control of the bridge’s navigational functions. The NAV1 notation  confirms that its bridge layout and level of equipment are suitable for safe periodic operation under the supervision of a single bridge watchkeeper, while the IBS notation was assigned as an integrated bridge system was fitted, providing electronic chart display, track planning and automatic track following, centralised navigation information display and bridge alarm management.
Alan Williams, Lloyd’s Register’s Operations Manager in Korea, said: "This latest addition to the fleet clearly demonstrates Sovcomflot’s commitment and respect towards the environment through the specification of LR’s energy and environmental services and notations for the build. The Sovcomflot, DSME and LR teams, on a global basis, have worked diligently and collaboratively towards this successful project completion, and all deserve to proud of their achievement. Viktor Bakaev will proudly join the earlier deliveries in the ship series, at a time when increasingly greater expectations are being placed on the marine industry to take active steps to take care of the environment. Her modernity places her at the forefront of tanker technologies which anticipate these future challenges."
Commenting on the building of the series, President and CEO of Sovcomflot, Sergey Frank said: "Aframax tankers are the most in demand for the transportation of oil and oil-products both in Russia and globally. Sovcomflot is the world leader in this tanker-segment. We can say with confidence that the tankers are the best Aframaxes in operation today, and I'm very pleased that Russian experts were able to experience the building of such ships, during their work at DSME."
Source: Lloyd's Register