Kherson Shipyard
The Kherson Shipyard is a joint stock company located in Kherson, Ukraine, at the mouth of the Dnieper River. The shipyard specializes in building merchant ships to include dry cargo ships, tankers, ice-breakers, container-ships, drilling vessels, and floating dry docks. In 1983, the shipyard delivered the impressive Alexei Kosygin class of Arctic barge carriers.
History
The city of Kherson was founded in 1778 at a fortress that protected the lands of Russian Empire from Turkish raids. Kherson's proximity to the Black Sea initiated shipbuilding and the settlement of people in the estuary of the Dnieper river.Kherson Shipyard was founded in 1951. The first Soviet tanker ships, Kherson and Grozny, were completed there in 1953. A few years later, the production of dry cargo ships began. In 1965, one of the first ocean-going dry cargo gas turbines in the former Soviet Union, the Paris Commune, was built at the plant. In 1970, the main Soviet icebreaker and transport vessel, Captain Myshevsky, was built at the shipyard.
During Ukraine's independence, Kherson Shipyard built about 25 ships, including 13 tankers for shipowners in Norway, Denmark, Russia, two Arctic supply vessels for clients in South Africa and China, and four multi-purpose dry cargo ships for the Philippines and Norway.
In 2010, the plant was engaged in the construction of a series of anchor vessels for the Norwegian company Myklebust Prosjekt AS, as well as ship repair and production of river tankers for the Dutch company Veka Shipbuilding BV.
In autumn 2019, the company is carrying out preparatory work for the installation of equipment for thermal cutting of metal SAPPHIRE of the Polish company "ECKERT".
Facilities and services
The shipyard consists of two main production areas:- Production Area No. 1 is where units up to 2,000 tons are formed in what is called the Large Unit Building to be further moved on to the building berth.
- Production Area No. 2 is where hull forming is carried out in a roofed building berth on two building berth lines each long.
| Length | Width | Draft | Launching weight | |
| Area No. 1 | 180–185 meters | 10,000 tons | ||
| Area No. 2 | 6,000 tons | |||
| 3 outfitting quays | - | - | - | - |
The hull assembling and metal processing facilities performs pre-processing of rolled metal to include straightening, shot-blasting, priming, cutting, and bending. Specific capabilities include:
- Straightening and shot-blasting of rolled metal plates up to thick; the plasma and gas cutting machines can cut metal plates up to thick.
- Bending of metal plates up to thick of all types and shapes, including shaped bends by profile gauge and frame work, bottom stamping of plates up to thick, with diameters ranging from.
- Assembly and welding of flat sections sizing and volumetric units up to 85–180 tons. Production of sections and units facilitated by using 5 to 125 tons overhead cranes and semi- and fully automatic welding equipment.
Notable vessels