Zvezda Shipbuilding Complex

Zvezda Shipbuilding Complex (Судостроительный комплекс «Звезда») is a Russian shipbuilding company that operates the country's largest shipyard in the town of Bolshoy Kamen in Primorsky Krai across the bay from Vladivostok. Established in 2015 by a consortium of investors led by the Russian oil company Rosneft, the company has since attracted a large number of orders for oil tankers, LNG carriers and icebreakers.

Description
The main production facilities at Zvezda Shipbuilding Complex, built at and around the site of the old Zvezda Shipyard, include a 485 by graving dock and a horizontal slipway served by a 40,000-tonne floating transfer dock capable of launching 300 m hulls. Both production lines are served by 1200-tonne gantry cranes as well as numerous smaller cranes.

History
At the end of the Cold War, the Zvezda shipyard was used to decommission Soviet nuclear submarines, with funding and support from the US and Canada under the Nunn–Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction initiative.

Following the decommissioning work, there were plans to expand and redevelop the shipyard to construct larger new ships. Work on the latest attempt at expansion began in 2009; the Russian government has criticised delays and threatened to hand control of the project to third parties, perhaps including Rosneft and Gazprom. In the longer term, the shipyard may be opened up to foreign investors as part of a broader plan to make the Russian shipbuilding industry capable of competing with shipbuilders in other countries.

When the expansion is complete, the shipyard would be able to build ships up to 360m and 250,000dwt.

Orders
Zvezda Shipbuilding Complex received its pilot order on 5 September 2015 when Rosneft ordered two icebreaking platform supply vessels. The contract included options for two additional sister ships which were exercised on 1 September 2016. The vessels are based on IBSV 10022 design developed by Lazurit Central Design Bureau in co-operation with the Dutch shipbuilder Damen Shipyards Group and the construction is managed by Zvezda Marine Technologies, a joint venture between Rosneft and Damen. The keels of all four vessels were laid at the same time on 8 September 2017. The first vessel of the series, Katerina Velikaya, was launched on 15 December 2020 and later towed to Vladivostok for outfitting and trials. The second vessel of the series, Svyataya Mariya, has also been launched. Initially scheduled for delivery between June 2019 and April 2020, none of the four ships have been delivered.

On 1 September 2016, Rosneft placed an order for five LNG-fuelled Aframax crude oil tankers. Sovcomflot ordered five tankers of the same design on 25 September 2017 and further two on 11 September 2018. , three tankers have been delivered to Rosneft  and two to Sovcomflot,  and several are under construction. The ship's are based on the Hyundai 114K design developed by the South Korean shipbuilder HD Hyundai Heavy Industries who have delivered several fully-outfitted stern sections built by Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries to Russia for final outfitting and delivery.

On 19 October 2017, Rosneft ordered ten icebreaking shuttle tankers to transport oil from the company's Payakhskaya deposit in the Yenisey River delta along the Northern Sea Route. Although scheduled for delivery from September 2023 onwards, none of the Arc7 ice class tankers have commenced construction.

On 24 May 2018, Rosmorport placed and order for the construction of a shallow-draught river icebreaker with an option for three additional vessels. However, Rosmorport cancelled the contract in October 2022, opting to build two such icebreakers on the company's own Onega Shipbuilding and Ship Repair Plant in Petrozavodsk.

On 28 May 2018, Rosneft ordered a ice class Arc6 icebreaking shuttle tanker to transport oil from the Trebs and Titov oil fields. The ship, named Valentin Pikul, was laid down on 4 December 2020 and launched on 27 July 2023. The fully-outfitted stern was built by Samsung Heavy Industries in South Korea. Although scheduled for delivery in 2022, the ship has not been delivered.

On 8 October 2018, Gazprom Flot placed an order for four offshore vessels — three supply vessels and one crew transport vessel — with deliveries between 2021 and 2024. , all four vessels have been laid down but none have been launched.

On 28 December 2018, Sovcomflot ordered three LNG-fuelled product tankers. All three ships, built in co-operation with Hyundai Mipo Dockyard, were laid down in 2021 with deliveries scheduled for 2022–2023. , two have been launched but none have been delivered.

On 10 April 2019, Sovcomflot ordered the first second-generation Yamalmax LNG carrier for the Arctic LNG 2 project. Smart LNG, a joint venture between Sovcomflot and Novatek, made a follow-up order for four more ships in January 2020 and ten more on 7 September 2020, bringing the total number of 174,000m3 ice class Arc7 icebreaking LNG carriers ordered from Zvezda Shipbuilding Complex to 15. The ships are built in co-operation with Samsung Heavy Industries who delivered the first five hulls fully assembled up to the front bulkhead of the cargo tanks from South Korea. However, the international sanctions during the Russian invasion of Ukraine put and end to this co-operation. Furthermore, the French company Gaztransport & Technigaz which provides expertise for the LNG carriers' membrane containment systems has suspended co-operation with the shipyard from the third hull onwards. , the first five Arc7 LNG carriers under construction at Zvezda Shipbuilding Complex have been launched but none have been delivered.

On 20 April 2020, FSUE Atomflot placed an order for the world's largest and most powerful nuclear-powered icebreaker with delivery scheduled for 2027. Initially Zvezda Shipbuilding Complex, which had been selected as the sole builder for the 120-megawatt Project 10510 "Leader" icebreakers already in September 2018, was supposed to build three such vessels. However, Russia's updated Arctic strategy provided for only one Project 10510 vessel to be built before 2035, shifting the emphasis to two additional Project 22220 icebreaker. The construction of the icebreaker, named Rossiya, began with steel cutting ceremony on 6 July 2020 and the keel was laid on 5 July 2021. , the construction of the icebreaker is ongoing but the project has suffered from delays and budget overruns, and instead of its planned 2027 delivery date the icebreaker is estimated to be commissioned in 2030.

On 22 December 2020, Zvezda Shipbuilding Complex was awarded the construction of two research vessels for the Russian Academy of Sciences with delivery in 2024–2025. Both ships are under construction.

, Zvezda Shipbuilding Complex has delivered five ships — all crude oil tankers built in co-operation with Hyundai Heavy Industries — and has at least 27 ships reportedly under construction.