After years of upgrades, the Northern Fleet’s top research vessel is again ready to explore the Arctic sea bed

The updated Romuald Muklevich can conduct a full range of Arctic marine research, including finding underwater objects and seabed mapping, Russia's Navy says.

By Atle Staalesen, The Independent Barents Observer May 1, 2020
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Four years of reconstruction and upgrades have made the Romuald Muklevich the most advanced research vessel in Russia’s Northern Fleet. (Mil.ru via The Independent Barents Observer)

The research vessel Romuald Muklevich, which had been undergoing reconstructions and upgrades at the Kronstadt Yard in St. Petersburg since 2016, it is now on its way north to its home base in the Kola Peninsula, according to Russia’s Northern Fleet.

After the modernization, the ship is reported to have become the fleet’s most modern and best equipped research and survey vessel.

It has a multi-beam acoustic sounder with extended features compared with previous generations of the equipment. With the equipment, the Romuald Muklevich is capable of not only conducting a full range of Arctic marine research, but also engaging in search of sunken objects on the sea bottom and mapping of the seabed, the Navy says.

The 85-meter-long ship is expected in Northern Fleet headquarters in Severomorsk in early May. Immediately upon arrival, it will undergo a series of anti-epidemic measures aimed at preventing spreading of the COVID-19, Navy representatives say.

The ship was originally built in Gdansk, Poland, in 1991. It will join the fleet of naval research and survey vessels operating in the Russian North, among them the Vizir, Gorizont and Senezh.