Russia has launched the marine tanker Engineer-Admiral Kotov, which is the third in the 23130 project.

TASS news agency reported that the vessel was launched at the Nevsky Shipyard.

This ship is intended for the Russian Navy.

The main marine tanker of Project 23130, Akademik Pashin, was handed over to the Russian Navy in January 2020.

The first and second production vessels of this type, Vasily Nikitin and Engineer-Admiral Kotov, were commissioned in 2021 and 2022, respectively.

Another tanker, named Alexey Shein, was commissioned in March 2023.

All three serial vessels of the 23130 project are being built under a contract with the Russian Ministry of Defense dated December 17, 2020.

The Project 23130 tanker is a single-deck, double-hulled vessel capable of operating in northern latitudes.

The vessel is designed to transport both fuel for warships and aviation fuel and food.

The range is 9,000 nautical miles, and one of its main tasks is to escort aircraft carriers. The tanker can load or unload multiple types of cargo without mooring to another ship or vessel.

The length of the 23130 project tanker is 130 meters, the width is about 21 meters, and the maximum speed is 16 knots. Autonomy is 60 days. The crew consists of 24 people.

In 2021, the Black Sea Fleet of Russia also received the main small marine tanker Vice-Admiral Paromov of the new project 03182.