On September 5, 2025, in Severomorsk, at the main base of the Northern Fleet, a solemn ceremony was held to raise the Naval flag and receive the lead ice-class patrol ship Ivan Papanin of project 23550 (serial number 02460), built by Admiralty Shipyards JSC (the company is part of United Shipbuilding Corporation JSC - USC) in St. Petersburg.
The ceremony of raising the Naval flag and receiving the lead ice-class patrol ship Ivan Papanin of project 23550 (serial number 02460) into the Russian Navy. Severomorsk, 05.09.2025 (c) Vladimir Evmenkov
The event was led by Admiral Alexander Moiseev, Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy. The ceremony was also attended by Admiral Konstantin Kabantsov, Commander of the Northern Fleet, Andrey Chibis, Governor of the Murmansk Region, Andrey Buzinov, First Deputy General Director of USC, Sergey Yurchuk, Deputy General Director of USC Admiralty Shipyards, and Mikhail Alyoshin, Chief engineer of the Almaz Design Design Bureau.
The multifunctional ice-class patrol ship of project 23550 combines the functionality of a tugboat, patrol ship and icebreaker capable of overcoming ice up to 1.7 m thick. The ships of project 23550 are designed to protect and monitor Arctic water resources; escort and tow detained vessels to port; escort and support support vessels; participate in rescue operations; transport special cargo. Project 22350 was developed by Almaz Central Design Bureau JSC (part of USC).
The contract for the construction of a series of two patrol ships of Project 23550 was signed by the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation with JSC Admiralty Shipyards on April 25, 2016. The construction of the lead ship "Ivan Papanin" with factory number 02460 was started at the Admiralty shipyards in September 2016, the official laying ceremony was held on April 19, 2017, and its launching took place on October 25, 2019. However, it was not until June 28, 2024, that the lead ship Ivan Papanin left St. Petersburg for factory sea trials. On March 31, 2025, the ship arrived from the Baltic to Severomorsk for the final stages of testing and has now been commissioned into the Northern Fleet.
The initial contractual deadlines for the delivery of both ordered ships were set at the end of 2019 and the end of 2020, respectively, but construction turned into a long-term construction. However, in 2018 and 2019, the then general director of Admiralty Shipyards JSC, Alexander Buzakov, reported that, "due to financing," under the revised terms of the contract, the lead patrol ship Ivan Papanin would be transferred to the Russian Navy only in 2023, and subsequently the deadline was repeatedly postponed further.
The laying of the second ordered patrol ship Nikolay Zubov with the serial number 02461 was carried out at Admiralty Shipyards only on November 27, 2019, and it was launched only on December 25, 2024. At the launch ceremony, Andrei Bystrov, Acting Director General of the Admiralty Shipyards, said that the second ship would be tested in late 2025 or early 2026 (that is, it would be commissioned no earlier than the end of 2026).
In 2019, two 1st-rank ice-class border patrol ships were ordered for the Coast Guard of the Border Guard Service of the FSB of Russia under project 23550 (code "Ermak"), which is a modified version of project 23550 (code "Arctic"). The construction of the PSKR is underway in Vyborg at PJSC Vyborg Shipbuilding Plant (part of USC), where the lead ship Purga with factory number 235 was laid down on July 25, 2020 and launched on October 7, 2022. The second Dzerzhinskiy MRCC with factory number 238 was laid there on December 22, 2023.
The main tactical and technical characteristics of the 23550 project are: total displacement of about 9,000 tons; length 114.5 m; width 19.5 m, draft about 6.0 m; full speed 18 knots; economic speed 10 knots; crew/ additional crew of about 60/50 people; navigation autonomy of about 70 days; navigation area - unlimited. The Arctic category of the ship is Arc7.
Armament of the ships designed for the Navy: 76-mm AK-176MA universal automatic artillery system; 12.7-mm machine guns, MANPADS launchers; helicopter pad and helicopter hangar for basing Ka-27 class helicopters and unmanned aerial vehicles; amphibious assault boat of project 02800 and hovercraft of project 23321 (type "Manul"). Theoretically, it is possible to equip ships with a containerized version of the Kalibr-NK missile system. It is reported that at the time of commissioning, the Ivan Papanin was carrying a project 23321 hovercraft with its own name DShK-3 Ernst Krenkel and an amphibious assault boat of project 02800 with the name DSHL-4 Pavel Semenko.
The ceremony of raising the Naval flag and receiving the lead ice-class patrol ship Ivan Papanin of project 23550 (serial number 02460) into the Russian Navy. Severomorsk, 05.09.2025 (c) JSC "United Shipbuilding Corporation" and Vladimir Evmenkov
