Construction of NIBULON’s own fleet is a key stage of the investment project to revive the Dnipro River and other rivers of Ukraine as transport waterways.   Within implementation of the large-scale project, having discussed and analyzed commercial offers from Ukrainian and foreign shipbuilding yards, on July 2, 2012 NIBULON signed a contract for construction of the floating crane of POSS-901 project at the shipyard in Constanta city (Romania) which sent the most competitive offer.   On December 6, 2012 at SNC Shipyard there will be held a solemn ceremony of keel laying – a longitudinal beam running in the middle of the vessel bottom. The keel serves as a main longitudinal link ensuring bottom strength and stiffness, and also hull strength.   Mykolayiv design bureau “Torola Design Group” developed the vessel’s project. The design bureau is an old and reliable partner of our company which has already developed the projects of non-self-propelled vessels and tugs according to NBL-90 and POSS-115 projects. NIBULON’s management and its specialists also participated in the project development and visited Romanian shipyard repeatedly.   The vessel will be equipped with 4 Volvo Penta diesel-generators (Sweden) of 420 kW each (a diagram of electric drive of propulsion system), Marine Interior welded outfit (the USA), Schottel rudder propellers (Germany), conditioning and ventilation systems produced by Heinen & Hopman Engineering (Holland), and other electric and navigation equipment.   During construction there will be cut 838 tons of A-Class steel, the subassembly amount will be 482 tons, the fabrication amount – 62.5 tons.   The floating crane will be equipped with a lifting navigation room, deck equipment will number hoisting crane, anchor and mooring winches, chains, anchors and masts. The floating crane will be equipped with the following hull systems, namely hydraulics of rudder-propeller complex, oil, fuel, and compressed air systems, fresh domestic and service water systems; ballast and bilge system, sewage system, gas discharge system, СО2 system, ventilation and central heating systems, sea water cooling system, fire-fighting system, fresh water cooling system, and conditioning system.   The vessel’s construction will be performed according to the following stages: metal cutting – production of pipes and hull systems – subassembly and fabrication – hull assembly – construction of spaces and their testing – assembly of deck equipment – assembly of insulation and metal casing, spaces cladding – outfit of superstructure and living spaces – deck painting – assembly of electrical and navigation equipment– mooring testing – sea trials – vessel delivery to a customer.   The floating crane construction is held under the supervision of the Shipping Register of Ukraine, the vessel will correspond to all the requirements of Ukraine’s sanitary norms. According to the contractual obligations, the construction completion will be on February 28, 2012.   The vessel will become the most productive transshipment floating crane in Ukraine. It will be used for carrying out loading/unloading operations in grab mode with lifting capacity up to 45 tons and in hook mode – up to 60 tons on inland waterways, in the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea costal area up to 20 miles – all year round.   The floating crane technical characteristics will ensure loading/unloading operations with wave height up to 1.5 m and wind force up to 20 m/s.    Main technical characteristics: – maximum length – 52.3 m; – breadth – 22 m; – draught (lightship) – 2 m; – displacement at 2 m draught – about 2000 tons; – speed – up to 4 knots.   Lifting capacity:                         – in grab mode (boom reach – 32 m) – 45 tons; – in hook mode (boom reach –  26 m) – 60 tons.   *** At present NIBULON’s own fleet consists of 28 non-self-propelled vessels with total deadweight of 131 080 tons; 4 constructed tugs of POSS-115 project and 3 purchased ones; a modern dredger produced by Watermaster Classic IV, Finland.   NIBULON’s fleet is still being constructed, the quantity of its units will increase. The company plans to build 12 non-self-propelled vessels with total deadweight of 48 thousand tons (NBL-91 project), 6 shallow draft pusher tugs with total deadweight of 180 tons and total power of 6 thousand h.p. (POSS-120 project), 10 self-propelled vessels of “Volgo-Don max” type with total deadweight of 50 thousand tons (RSD-44 project).   In order to implement this project, in August 2012 the company purchased capital assets and property complex of Mykolayiv “Shipyard “Lyman” that was named “Shipbuilding and Repair Yard “NIBULON”. At present the company’s specialists have defined stages and level of reconstruction and repair of old facilities by carrying out design works. On the latter completion, the shipyard will be reconstructed. The aim of reconstruction is to ensure repair, technical inspection of NIBULON’s fleet with the vessels’ length up to 150 m and also to create a production line to construct vessels with deadweight up to 5 thousand tons – for further development of NIBULON’s logistics.   Presence of own self-propelled vessels will allow to develop the Dnipro, the Volga, the Don Rivers, the Caspian Sea and also to perform the Black Sea shipping operations. It will allow, for example, to perform trading relations with Kazakhstan, Iran, and other countries by sea and not by land.   For operation of the Southern Bug River and safety use of shallow draft tugs, the company is going to conduct dredging works in Mykolayiv region at the cost of UAH 70 mln. NIBULON also plans to remove rocks from the Dnipro riverbed that will ensure safe navigation and passage of deep draught vessels.   NIBULON’s program also includes the passenger traffic revival – by means of construction of passenger vessels.   Thus, NIBULON, one of the domestic leaders in tonnage increase and fleet renewal, announces the year 2013 as a year of shipbuilding!