United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC) plans to file a lawsuit against Rosneft for the damage caused to aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov as a result of the PD-50 floating dock sinking, USC President Alexei Rakhmanov told Kommersant daily.
Rosneft is the owner of Shipyard 82 to which the sunken floating dock belongs. In the early morning of October 30, as Admiral Kuznetsov was being set afloat, due to an onshore power surge, the floating dock submerged underwater resulting in the unique vessel’s five-meter hull breach.
PD-50 is one of the largest floating docks in the world. It is the only floating dock in Russia where Admiral Kuznetsov can undergo maintenance.
Admiral Kuznetsov itself is the only vessel of this class in the Russian Navy. It was launched in 1987 and is currently being upgraded.
“Power voltage is one of the key indicators of electric energy quality. Therefore, a deviation from the regular voltage level that is, its substantial surge or plunge, may lead to long-term negative consequences and accidents,” Director of the Electroshield Samara engineering center Alexei Kirpikov commented to Invest Foresight. “Accidents may be both system-wide and local, in a specific load center or at a specific substation.”
Such major accidents are rare. However, they happen quite often at a local level because distribution networks, especially in remote areas, are characterized by severe wear of the equipment and unreliable power supply.
Digital monitoring and management systems could increase their reliability through real-time monitoring of the electric equipment, power consumption parameters and timely reporting of deviation in the power quality.
“It is also important to note that such improvements can trigger a direct economic effect due to reduced losses in networks and lower damage from the undersupply of energy,” Alexei Kirpikov noted.