Russian Navy: Large workshop ship on its way home - and now?

On the last weekend in January, the large workshop ship "PM-82" of the Russian Navy could be seen travelling eastwards in the Fehmarnbelt. The Amur-class ship (project 304, 122 metres, 5,600 tonnes) was accompanied on its journey from Tartus in Syria to Baltiysk by the support ship "Sergey Balk", which has been commuting between the Baltic Sea and the Middle East for almost a year.

Russian deep-sea salvage tug "Sergey Balk". Photo: Michael Nitz

Girl for everything

"Sergey Balk" had just escorted the Kilo-3 class submarine "Krasnodar" - one of six boats from the first batch of the modified Kilo class built for the Black Sea Fleet (project 636.3, 74 metres, 3,100 tonnes submerged) - from Tartus to St. Petersburg for repairs in the autumn. By return of post, "Sergey Balk" then accompanied the newly commissioned submarine "Ufa" on its journey to Tartus in December, the first part of the long journey to Vladivostok. "Ufa" is the fourth of six submarines of this class destined for the Pacific fleet. The ocean-going salvage tug is now back in the Baltic Sea.

Supply vessel "Kama" of the Kaliningradneft class. Photo : MoD Moscow

Amur class in Tartus

The "PM-82", the workshop, supply and accommodation ship built in Szczecin/Poland, which is now also 50 years old, has served as the logistical base and repair platform for the Russian Navy's 'Mediterranean Escadra' since August 2023, which traditionally relies on Tartus and units transferred there without its own base. The ten Amur-class units can be found in all fleets of the Russian Federation worldwide. However, the fleet in Tartus is currently reduced to the tanker "Kama" (Kaliningradneft class, 116 metres, 9,000 tonnes) and the "Kildin", a reconnaissance ship of the well-known Moma class.

Workshop - or more?

What is a workshop ship doing back on a shipyard visit in the Baltic after a relatively short time at the temporary base? In the announcement by the Russian Ministry of Defence after arriving in Baltiysk on 29 January 2024, it was stated that the unit was "ready to carry out its intended tasks after refuelling". So is it returning the long way to Tartus? And with what important cargo? Although such movements are considered routine, as workshop ships are also subject to a material overhaul cycle, there is no harm in scrutinising this process. Especially as Moscow knows how to help itself in logistical matters despite the Bosphorus being closed to warships: Ankara grants Russian military aircraft overflight rights and it is easy to trade with the regime in Damascus - with weapons and (Ukrainian) grain. In this respect, the current voyage of the "PM-82" may serve other purposes than supplying the units deployed in the Mediterranean with normal consumables. Do special goods or new weapons technology required for operations in Ukraine or Syria necessitate the return order to Baltiysk?

Russian corvette "Zeleniy Dol" of the Buyan-M class. Photo: Michael Nitz

Mediterranean escadra

The Russian Navy contingent deployed in the Mediterranean currently consists of a collection of newbuildings on the waiting list for entry into the Black Sea: the frigate "Admiral Grigorovich" (2016, project 11356M, 125 metres, 4.000 tonnes), the Steregushchiy-class corvettes "Merkury" (2023, project 20381, 104 metres, 2,200 tonnes) and "Orekhovo-Zuyevo" of the Buyan-M class (2018, project 21631, 74 metres, 950 tonnes), the Kilo-3-class submarine "Ufa" as well as the tanker "Kama" and the "Kildin".

Newbuilding corvette "Merkury" of the Stereguschchiy class.
Photo: Severnaya Verf

Options

"Sergey Balk" could now set off for the Mediterranean with the "Mozhaik", an improved Kilo-class submarine also destined for the Pacific fleet. This would bring construction numbers four and five a little closer to their destination of Vladivostok, if things went according to plan. At the same time, the submarine threat in the Mediterranean would have been doubled. On the other hand, the "Ufa" has not yet made an operational appearance and remained in Tartus after its arrival. The "Krasnodar" had been in the Mediterranean in front of the "Ufa" since February 2022. It actually belongs to the Black Sea Fleet, but was transferred to the Mediterranean immediately before the start of the war and was therefore unexpectedly "locked out" of the war. Due to Ukrainian shelling, another Russian submarine was lost in the Black Sea in Sevastopol anyway.

"Ufa", Russian new-build submarine of the Kilo 3 class. Photo: Admirality Verf

It remains to be seen whether the three, "Mozhaik", "Sergey Balk" and "PM-82", will make their way to the Mediterranean together. And whether the conventional submarines will make the long leap to the Pacific fleet at all, or remain in the vicinity for a replacement in the Ukraine war.

"Admiral Grigorovich" in the Baltic Sea. Photo: Michael Nitz