Sredne-Nevsky Shipyard (SNSZ, part of United Shipbuilding Corporation / USC) hosted today an official ceremony of the Russian Navy flag hoisting and commissioning into service of the latest generation minesweeper Polyarny of Alexandrite class (Project 12700). USC says the ceremony was held in Kaliningrad Region based Baltiysk.
The ceremony was attended by Admiral Konstantin Kabantsov, the Northern Fleet Commander-in-Chief and the shipbuilding companies’ top executives, and service members of the Baltic Naval Base.
Prior to the handover ceremony, SNSZ successfully completed sea trials and state acceptance tests. The ship’s crew, together with the shipbuilding company’s specialists conducted maneuvering and speed tests in the Baltic Sea, checking the operation of all units, systems, and components, navigation and radio equipment, and the ship’s armament.
The minesweeper Polyarny is the tenth ship of Alexandrite class series to join the Russian Navy.
The project was developed by the USC’ Almaz Central Marine Design Bureau. These ships belong to a new generation of mine countermeasure forces and are designed to counter naval mines, which the new minesweepers can detect both in the water and in the seabed without entering the danger zone.
The Project 12700 ships have monolithic fiberglass hulls that were manufactured using a vacuum infusion process. The hulls feature reduced weight, increased corrosion resistance, and strength comparable to those made of traditional materials.
The Project 12700 ships boast high maneuverability thanks to the use of an effective system of various thrusters. The ship design implements a new approach to creating comfortable crew accommodation.
Key particulars: LOA: 61 meters; Breadth: 10 meters; Displacement – 890 tonnes; Full-load displacement speed – 16.5 knots; Complement – over 40.
According to an earlier report of IAA PortNews, the lead ship of Project 12700 series was delivered to the customer in 2016. The Polyarny was laid down at SNSZ in June 2022 and launched in April 2025.
The history of Sredne-Nevsky Shipyard based in Saint-Petersburg dates back to 1912. Today the shipyard is a subsidiary of the Russian shipbuilding conglomerate, the United Shipbuilding Corporation and is a leader in composite shipbuilding in Russia. The vessels are manufactured from conventional steel, composite materials, low-magnetic steel, aluminum-magnesium alloys. The shipyard has built over 500 warships and vessels of 43 designs for the Russian Navy and foreign customers.
