Fincantieri strengthens Russian ties

Fincantieri delivered nuclear waste carrier Rossiya to Russia in 2011

NOVEMBER 27, 2013 — Fincantieri has won a contract from RosRAO, the Russian Federal Unitary Enterprise for radioactive waste management, to build a semi-submersible floating platform for the transportation of nuclear submarine reactor compartments.

It is also to work together with Russia’s Krylov State Research Center on a project to develop a drillship able to navigate in ice up to 1.5 m thick and ambient temperatures of -40°C and with a four-month operational autonomy.

Both agreements were announced, during an Italy-Russia Business Forum in Trieste,Italy, Fincantieri announced, in the presence of Enrico Letta, Italy’s President of the Council of Ministers, and Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation.

The semi-submersible for RosRAO will be built in Fincantieri’s Italian shipyards for delivery by the end of 2015.

At 82 m long and 27 m wide, it will have a 3,000 ton displacement and will be used to transport what is described as “special material” between the storage area and White Sea shipyards facing the Kola Peninsula.

The RosRAO contract follows on from the 2003 cooperation agreement between the Russian and Italian governments for the dismantling of nuclear submarines and the safe management of radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel, reached within the framework of the G8 Global Partnership, launched at the 2002 summit in Kananaskis (Canada).

The areas of intervention identified by this agreement include several projects, amongst which was one for the construction of a multipurpose vessel to transport nuclear fuel and radioactive waste from the decommissioning of Russian nuclear submarines. This vessel, named Rossita, was delivered at Fincantieri’s Muggiano yard in the summer of 2011.

Fincantieri and the Krylov Center signed a framework agreement to cooperate earlier this year. Fincantieri sees the drillship project as opening up very important opportunities and says that by 2030 “Russia plans to buy dozens of vessels like those covered by the agreement, with unit values possibly in excess of $1 billion.”

Giuseppe Bono, Fincantieri CEO, commented: “This day is doubly significant for us: not only has the alliance with our Russian friends been strengthened by the placing of a prestigious order, but the agreement signed today with Krylov launches the operational phase of our collaboration with this prestigious research institute. We’re ready to work together to harness the great potential in the oil & gas industry and in the cruise sector, which is looking towards new areas of development.”

Mr. Bono concluded: “As the number one shipbuilder in the world by diversification, our commitment to technological innovation is an imperative, and the agreements we’re announcing today denote the importance of what we see as a strategic partnership, from which we’re sure other significant opportunities will arise.”

Denis V. Manturov Minister of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation: “I believe that the agreement to be signed today by the Italian Shipbuilding Corporation Fincantieri SpA and our leading branch-wise Research Center, the Krylov Center, will be prosperous and the cooperation of the two companies will develop”.

Andrey V. Dutov, Director General of the Krylov State Research Center: “This project is the evidence of high competence of the Krylov Center in commercial engineering and development of high-end vessels and offshore structures. I hope that the cooperation with our partner, the Italian shipbuilding corporation Fincantieri S.p.A, will be fruitful and result in implementation of joint projects in global shipbuilding market”.