The Itarus semi-submersible floating platform for transporting special material decommissioned by the Russian Navy has been delivered to the shipyard in Muggiano, in La Spezia, Italy. It was built by Fincantieri for RosRAO, the Russian Federal State Unitary Enterprise for radioactive waste management. The contract to build Itarus was signed by the Italian Ministry of Economic Development, RosRAO and Fincantieri in November 2013 during the Italy-Russia Business Forum, held in Trieste. It followed the 2003 cooperation agreement between the Russian and Italian government for the decommissioning of nuclear submarines and the safe management of radioactive waste and nuclear fuel. That agreement was defined within the framework of the Global Partnership, started in the 2002 G8 summit in Canada.
Construction of Itarus, which is 79 metres long, about 29 metres wide with a deadweight capacity of 3000t, was supervised by the Russian Maritime Register of Shipping. It was built in the Integrated Shipyard of Riva Trigoso and Muggiano with the support of the facility of Palermo. The vessel's maximum draught is 24.5 metres, achievable during the cargo docking, by means of 45 ballast tanks for a total capacity of 25,000 cubic meters of ballast water, fed by four pumps of 2000 cubic meters per hour capacity, Fincantieri said. The vessel will be equipped with living areas, to host a crew of six members on board.
Fincantieri said the platform will be used for the transportation of nuclear submarine reactor compartments, decommissioned by the Russian Navy, from the storage area of Sayda Bay to the Nerpa Shipyard - and vice-versa - facing the Kola Peninsula in the Barents Sea. RosRAO said in February that the training of Russian crew had been completed at the Fincantieri shipyard, and plans would follow for towing the vessel from Italy to Russia.
