First of four pontoons built at Russian plant under Global Partnership programme
Interfax, Supplied by BBC Worldwide Monitoring
April 6, 2007
(For personal use only)

Snezhnogorsk, 6 April: The first of four unique pontoons, designed to ensure safe transportation of decommissioned nuclear submarines, has been built at the Snezhnogorsk shipyard Nerpa (Murmansk Region).

The pontoons are intended not just for the transportation of nuclear submarines to the site of their disposal but also for keeping afloat submarines in distress, Interfax was told at the plant.

The pontoon construction project is carried out with financial support from Great Britain under the Global Partnership programme.

The order is expected to be completed in June. The pontoons will then undergo sea trials. In the course of the trials a multi-purpose nuclear submarine decommissioned from the North Fleet will be delivered to the plant.

According to the plant's information, when the pontoons are commissioned all four will be handed over to the North Fleet.

Source: Interfax-AVN military news agency website, Moscow, in Russian 1425 gmt 6 Apr 07