Every year in Russia more than 13 million people use waterborne transport. The average age of a vessel serving on a tourist route is 40 years. The strategy of developing the national waterborne transport until 2030, other than increasing the flow of passenger traffic, also envisages the refurbishment of the vessel fleet. Among other things, this will happen through putting into operation new hydrofoil vessels Valdai and Comet, which to a large degree are made from aluminium.
NO ALTERNATIVE
The combined length of waterways in Russia, according to Rosmorrechflot (Federal Agency of Maritime and River Transport) exceeds 100 thousand kilometres. And for 78% of waterways there does not exist an alternative. For instance, in Ob-Irtysh basin river basin where the road and railroad network are not developed enough. Or the 1000-kilometre-long route from Khanty-Mansiysk to Salekhard where there are no other roads but river routes. Today these waterways are operated by old hydrofoil Meteor vessels. And even though the transit time is almost 8 hours the vessels are fully packed because they are the only means of transport available.
Today many waterways for which there are not any alternatives are operated by old hydrofoil Meteor vessels.
There is another important argument in favour of the national shipbuilding industry. According to the information from the Russian government, the transport operating in the national water routes is much cost effective than the motor and railroad transport, the specific fuel consumption is lower by 25% and 53% respectively. And the maintenance costs are tens of times lower. Taken together, all these factors outweigh the only drawback which is the lengthy payback period - for passenger vessels it exceeds 25 years.
FROM VOLGA TO THE MEDITERANNEAN
Since the times of the Soviet Union, the country has been accumulating experience in hydrofoil design. Rocket, Meteor, Comet created by Alexeyev design bureau in Nizhny Novgorod have been gliding on the wide waters for more than 40 years now, and not only in Russia. For more than a quarter of a century seaborne Comets have been cruising between the Mediterranean ports.
Nowadays the average age of passenger vessels has increased to critical levels, and the time for decisive change has come. In February 2016, the government has approved the Strategy for Development of the National Waterborne Transport in Russia until 2030. According to this document, during the next 14 year the river fleet will be refurbished and the average age of the tourist vessels will be decreased to 30 years, and the volume of passenger transport will stabilize at the level of 15 to 16 million people per year.
These grand plans have been supported by the commencement of construction of fast hydrofoil vessels – Valdai-45R river vessel and Comet-120M seaborne vessel.
RIDING THE WAVES
Many consider Valdai-45R vessel, newly designed by Alexeyev Design Bureau, to be the direct descendant of the soviet hydrofoil Polesye that has been in production at Gomel shipbuilding and ship maintenance plant since the 1980s. The designers and engineers of the bureau emphatically disagree, noting that the only common thing between the two projects is the number of passengers on board and the configuration of the cabin.
Valdai-45R hydrofoil is seen by many as the descendant of the soviet vessel Polesye.
Valdai-45R hydrofoil has made great progress in comparison to its predecessor. And the most important point - the new vessels comply with Technical Regulations on the Safety of the National Waterborne Transport, whereas Polesye does not comply with the current requirements of the Russian River Register (RRR). Special shape of the foils, in particular – increased indentation of the nose foil, reduces the overload when the vessel is moving during the sea surge conditions, which makes the journey much safer.
Valdai-45R fully complies with the Technical Regulations on the Safety of the National Waterborne Transport.
The designers have given thought to passenger comfort: the both the passenger and the crew cabin have ergonomic design and are equipped with air conditioners. There vessel is fitted with accommodations for people with special needs. The designers state that the passenger chairs on Valdai-45R can sustain extremely high acceleration – 12G, for instance, the international standards set the maximum acceleration load permissible in civil aviation at the level of 2.5G.
The new hydrofoil vessels have successfully completed the acceptance trials, including the dockside trials and trial runs attended by specialists from RRR. All equipment on board has passed relevant certifications.
THE VALDAI METAL
The use of light and durable aluminium has allowed to reduce the total weight of Valdai-45R hydrofoil vessel to 50% in comparison with steel structures, and to improve key performance characteristics - the speed and the manoeuvrability. Corrosion resistance is an additional advantage that extends the service life of the vessel and provides additional operational costs savings.
The use of aluminium allowed to reduce the total weight of the new vessel to 50% in comparison to other similar vessels.
The designers of the vessels have long learned to appreciate the variability of the aluminium alloys. The shipbuilding industry uses AMg3, Amg5, Amg61 alloys (Al-Mg-Mn for welding the hull), Amts (Al-Cu-Mg-Mn for riveted hull), Amg5 (for hulls of fishing barques that are highly resistant to impacts and freezing).
"With the exception of the engine, Valdai-45R hydrofoil is produced in Russia from Russian parts and materials. The proportion of the aluminium used in construction is quite high – almost 50% of the vessel's total weight. Around 9 tonnes of aluminium are used in production of one hydrofoil vessel. It's interesting that the foils themselves are made from aluminium", – says UC RUSAL's head of aluminium consumption development in Russia and CIS Denis Lednev.
Around 9 tonnes of aluminium are required to produce one hydrofoil vessel.
The main suppliers of aluminium products for the shipbuilders are the companies that have membership in Aluminium Association. For example, companies like Aluminium Metallurgist RUS (AMR). Their rolled products, aluminium alloys, shapes, pipes, and wires are used to build a hydrofoil vessel. Promtekhresurs company and Kamensk-Uralskiy Metallurgical Plant also supply their products to the shipyards.
LAYING THE GROUNDWORK
When talking about the participation of the aluminium industry in the development of the shipbuilding industry, one cannot but mention the results of the R&D conducted by the Institute of Light Materials and Technology (ILMIT). Today, when the competition among the construction materials is fierce, the researchers continue their development of new aluminium-based alloys that have better characteristics. The materials used in shipbuilding must not only bear heavy stress and resist the effect of water, but they also must be fit for welding.
This is the blend of characteristics possessed by aluminium-magnesium based alloys that contain scandium. Such alloys were originally developed by ILM&T to specifically address the needs of the shipwrights. The alloys were assigned international grade 5081 and 5181, indicating reduced scandium content.
When ILMIT created these materials, the predominant concept was that of rational microalloying. This approach involves the reduction of the amount of the expensive alloying elements to the minimum while at the same time achieving 40% and 25% increase in strength simultaneously preserving the high corrosion resistance intrinsic to the Al-Mg alloys. The use of these materials will allow to further reduce the weight of the vessel while increasing its cargo capacity or the fuel efficiency.
READY TO NAVIGATE
Now there are approximately 50 Meteor hydrofoil vessels in operating condition whose age has reached 35-45 years. All these vessels are going to be scrapped in the next couple of years. Estimates show that the refurbishment of the existing hydrofoil fleet will require approximately 500 tonnes of aluminium. And we are talking only about the Russian fleet, while many Meteors are seeing active operation abroad.
The refurbishment will be conducted by the bureau from Nizhny Novgorod, who won the contest conducted by the Ministry of Industry and Trade (Russia) in 2019. Alexeyev Design Bureau is the only design bureau in the world that combines design, support and construction of the river hydrofoil vessels, their operation and subsequent maintenance, up until the scrapping of the vessel.
By now, the hull of Meteor-120R has been fully formed. The finalization of construction and the float-out ceremony of the first hydrofoil is planned for summer 2021, to coincide with the 800 years anniversary of the city of Nizhny Novgorod.
The construction of Meteor-120R will be completed during the summer of 2021.
The 2020 navigation was supplemented by 5 Comet 120M hydrofoils and a new generation Valdai 45R: 2 in Crimea, 2 in Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous District, 1 in Nizhny Novgorod region. In Nizhny Novgorod, a total of 5 Valdai-45R hydrofoils will be transferred to the operator company. These vessels will operate on regular routes Nizhny Novgorod – Gorodets and Nizhny Novgorod – Makaryevo, as well as on other routes in popular demand.
In addition to that, the work is in progress to create a line of commercially operated passenger hydrofoils: river vessels carrying 45 to 55 or up to 120 passengers, and seaborne vessels carrying 120 or 250 to 320 passengers. The design of air cavity vessels, small boats and ground effect vehicles is being continued.
TOURISM RISE SOAR LIKE A COMET
The demand for high-speed waterborne transport in Russia continues to grow. The main drivers for this growth are the tourism (sea and river sightseeing trips) and the increase in the passenger traffic in the socially important regions. These are all significant figures and the prospects look promising.
It is expected that the implementation of the Domestic Tourism Strategy will double the number of domestic tourist trips per person by 2035. Certainly, the coronavirus pandemic is affecting the situation. Bur the domestic tourism will, without any doubt, become more and more popular with each passing year, meaning that Russian hydrofoil vessels will get their share of passengers.