Russia’s new sea tanker Academician Pashin will join the Northern Fleet’s logistics and rear support forces in late January, the Northern Fleet’s press office reported on Thursday.

“On January 21, a solemn ceremony of hoisting the flag of the Navy’s auxiliary fleet will take place aboard the new sea tanker Academician Pashin at the Northern Fleet’s main base of Severomorsk. This day will become the date of officially accepting the vessel for service in the Northern Fleet,” the press office said in a statement.

In 2019, the new sea tanker successfully underwent a full program of trials in the Barents Sea. The heavy nuclear-powered missile cruiser Pyotr Veliky and the frigate Admiral Gorshkov provided assistance during the tanker’s trials, the statement says.

The Project 23130 medium-sized sea-going supply tanker Academician Pashin was built at the Nevsky Shipyard on order from Russia’s Defense Ministry. The tanker is equipped with a diesel single-shaft propulsion unit and a bow thruster and is an Arc4 ice-class vessel.

The vessel is equipped with mechanisms for the transfer of liquid and dry cargoes while on the move at sea. The vessel’s cargo system can simultaneously transport eight types of cargoes. The tanker is 130 meters long and 21 meters wide, develops a maximum speed of 16 knots and has an endurance of 60 days. It displaces 9,000 tonnes and has a crew of 24.