As the Department of Information and Mass Communications of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation reported on July 31, 2026, a solemn ceremony was held in Baltiysk for the first flag raising of the auxiliary fleet and the commissioning of the small marine tanker Valentin Rykov (serial number 851) of project 03182, built at Volga Shipbuilding Plant JSC in Nizhny Novgorod.
The small marine tanker Valentin Rykov (serial number 851) of project 03182, commissioned into the Russian Navy, was built by Volga Shipbuilding Plant JSC in Nizhny Novgorod. Baltiysk, 07/31/2026 (c) Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation
Thus, the epic ended with the surrender of one of the long-term projects of Russian shipbuilding to the Russian Navy. The small marine tanker of project 03182 (code "Platform-Arctic") was developed by JSC Zelenodolsk Design Bureau. In 2016, Volga Shipbuilding Plant JSC in Nizhny Novgorod received a contract from the Russian Ministry of Defense for the construction of two units of Project 03182 for the Black Sea Fleet (port of registry - Sevastopol), with delivery in 2019 and 2020.
The lead tanker Vice Admiral Ferries (serial number 850) under this contract was laid down in Nizhny Novgorod on September 1, 2016 and launched on December 20, 2018. In August-September 2020, the tanker was towed by inland waterways from Nizhny Novgorod to Sevastopol to the Persey plant, where it was being refitted, and began factory sea trials on the Black Sea in November 2020. On May 29, 2021, the small marine tanker Vice Admiral Ferries was commissioned into the Black Sea Fleet.
At the beginning of its operation, the small marine tanker Vice Admiral Ferries was on its first combat service in the Mediterranean Sea, and due to the closure of the straits by the Turkish authorities for warships and the inability to return to Sevastopol, it arrived in the Baltic in June 2022. In December 2025, after the inter-fleet transfer from the Baltic, the tanker was transferred to the Northern Fleet.
The second tanker of project 03182 with the serial number 851 was laid down at the Volga plant on March 10, 2017 under the name Vasily Nikitin, but its construction was greatly delayed. In March 2021, the name "Vasily Nikitin" was transferred to the second medium sea tanker of project 23130 (serial number 902), laid down in Shlisselburg at Nevsky Shipbuilding and Ship Repair Plant LLC. As a result, the second tanker of project 03182 with factory number 851 was launched in Nizhny Novgorod on August 20, 2021 under the new name "Valentin Rykov" - in honor of Valentin Pavlovich Rykov (1926 - 2015), the first commander of the K-52 nuclear submarine, which first made a trip under the pack ice between Franz Josef Land. and the island of Svalbard. In October-November 2023, the tanker Valentin Rykov was transferred via inland waterways from Nizhny Novgorod for completion at the Gunboat Repair Plant in St. Petersburg. Factory sea trials of the tanker in the Baltic Sea began on August 24, 2024, but as a result, the tests dragged on for another two years. It was only in December 2025 that state tests of the vessel began, and only now the small marine tanker Valentin Rykov has been commissioned, becoming part of the 667th detachment of support vessels at the naval base in Baltiysk.
In fact, earlier, the first contract for the construction of two small marine tankers of project 03182 was signed by the Russian Ministry of Defense on September 1, 2014 with Vostochnaya Verf JSC in Vladivostok for the Pacific Fleet. The lead small marine tanker Mikhail Barskov (serial number 9001) under this contract and initially in the series of this project as a whole was officially laid down at the Vostochnaya Shipyard on October 27, 2015, although its actual construction was started by the enterprise in early 2015. The contract deadline for delivery of the lead vessel was November 2017, but it was not until August 27, 2019 that the tanker was launched . The second tanker of project 03182 Boris Averkin (serial number 9002) under this contract was officially laid down at the Vostochnaya Shipyard on February 6, 2018. The contract deadline for its completion was the end of 2019, but the vessel was never launched. The construction of both tankers at the Vostochnaya Shipyard was discontinued in 2021, both of them remain at the enterprise, and their future prospects are unknown. By now, the Navy has apparently lost interest in this project.
The small marine tanker of project 03182 was developed as a "multipurpose ice-class vessel platform to support the concept of Arctic vessels for transporting liquid and dry cargo, discharge cargo and people with the ability to receive helicopter equipment (including unmanned aerial vehicles) and perform rescue operations." In addition to receiving, storing, transporting and transferring liquid cargo, the tanker of project 03182 is also designed to supply ships and vessels with cargo in barrels, crates, pallets, containers, etc.; collecting bilge, sewage and faecal waters, dry garbage and food waste; patrolling, rescue duty in areas of navigation, fishing, offshore oil and gas fields; search for and assistance to ships in distress; technical support in areas dangerous for navigation; maintenance of transport operations in ports; removal of emergency vessels from shoals and reefs; pumping water from flooded compartments and towing emergency vessels and facilities to a place of refuge, including in the ice; performing the functions of a fire fighting vessel.
The project 03182 tanker of the Arc4 ice class has a total displacement of 3,500 tons, a deadweight of 1,560 tons, a length of 78.8 m, a width of 15.4 m, a draft of 5 m in full load and is equipped with an electric power plant with rotary steering columns. The crew is 24 people with the possibility of accommodating eight more people. The vessel is equipped with a runway for a Ka-27 helicopter.
The ceremony of commissioning the small marine tanker Valentin Rykov (serial number 851) of project 03182, built by Volga Shipbuilding Plant JSC in Nizhny Novgorod, into the Russian Navy. Baltiysk, 07/31/2026 (c) Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation
The small marine tanker Valentin Rykov (serial number 851) of project 03182, built by Volga Shipbuilding Plant JSC in Nizhny Novgorod, during tests in the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, 10/28/2025 (c) Curious / forums.airbase.ru
