This launching inaugurated a new stage in the history of NIBULON shipbuilding and repair yard. The vessel should have been launched a bit earlier. Due to difficult weather conditions, it was necessary to postpone this event.
“The launching of the vessel was scheduled for earlier period, but at that time there was bad weather; it caused through freezing of the bay. It is not the appropriate way to launch a vessel in such extreme conditions, because strong wind and temperature reduction caused fluctuations in water level up to 1 m. Of course, today’s weather conditions (heavy fog and ice) are challenging. But we still have to launch this vessel as the next orders are waiting for their movement to the building plates. It is not considered appropriate to launch vessels on Monday, and Tuesday is far away and we will waste a lot of working time. We cannot stop the technological cycle of construction of vessels”, said Ivan Tauzhnianskyi, a chief engineer of the shipyard.
The B5000 project are non-self-propelled vessels with a cargo capacity of 5 thousand tons; vessels of this project are of mixed navigation and with two holds, as well as with improved operational qualities, in particular with a hydraulic hatch cover drive system. The company’s specialists designed a new improved project of non-self-propelled vessels with a breadth of 17 m on the basis of the American and European experience. This is the first vessel with a breadth of 17 m built at the shipyard for operation on the Dnipro River. Operation of non-self-propelled vessels of the new project will increase the efficiency of NIBULON’s fleet. Larger cargo capacity of vessels will allow the company to deliver larger batches of cargo from the transshipment terminals on the Dnipro River and the Southern Buh River, as well as from the transshipment terminal in Mykolaiv to the outer roads, thereby increasing volumes of river transportation and transshipment.
This historical event was preceded by the construction of a new workshop with an automatic line for metal cleaning and priming and a metal processing workshop with plasma cutting and gas cutting machines; the workshops were put into operation in May 2017 during the International Exhibition “Shipbuilding-2017” held at the shipyard. After that, the company put an assembly and fabrication workshop with modern equipment from the leading manufacturers of the world into operation and started to construct new multipurpose tugs of 3,500 hp (T3500 project). The implementation of such a large-scale reconstruction of the shipyard’s facilities became possible thanks to support of the European Investment Bank; the signing of a loan agreement with the EIB took place in Brussels at the headquarters of the European Commission in December 2016. In 2017, NIBULON also constructed two transshipment terminals on the Dnipro River and an elevator complex as part of the cooperation with the bank.
The reconstruction of NIBULON shipbuilding and repair yard brings it to an absolutely new high level. Upon its completion, NIBULON shipbuilding and repair yard will be the most modern plant in Ukraine and undoubtedly one of the best shipyards in Europe. The slipway reconstruction, which enables the company’s shipyard to launch 100-m vessels, has become a new challenge for NIBULON’s shipbuilders. At the moment of the property complex acquisition in August 2012 and creation of NIBULON shipbuilding and repair yard it constructed vessels of 70 m. The launching of the first order enables the company to construct complete vessels of various purposes with a length of 100 m. NIBULON plans to construct five more ways that will enable the shipbuilders to construct and launch vessels of up to 140 m. It is the project length of a self-propelled floating crane (P-140 project) with two cranes with a cargo capacity of 10,000 tons and productivity of 18,000 tons per day. It is capable of withstanding sea waves of up to 3 m.  The construction of such a modern cargo vessel will be started in August. 
At the same time NIBULON finishes constructing its complex for shipment of grain and oilseeds as part of the transshipment terminal in Mykolaiv with a capacity of about 43 thousand tons with the support of the International Finance Corporation. What does it for? This will increase the speed of handling of vessels, thereby increasing the efficiency of the fleet built at its own shipbuilding and repair yard.  Upon construction completion of the elevator complex and berth, it will be used as a mode of transport to transport agricultural commodity and other cargoes; it will not be a facility to store products on water.
By the way, the construction of additional launching ways at the shipyard, as well as the construction of the new complex for shipment at the transshipment terminal in Mykolaiv, was started in December 2017. We have completed the first stage of the slipway reconstruction that enables us to launch 100-m vessels. In March, the company will put the capacities for receipt, storage and shipment of grain and oilseeds and the berth as part of the transshipment terminal in Mykolaiv into operation. The company will complete to construct all facilities during the winter period. This testifies to the fact that such obstacles as difficult weather conditions, delays in receiving permits will not prevent us from implementing our investment program. 
As part of the cooperation with the European Investment Bank, the shipbuilders continue constructing the second В5000 project vessel that will be launched in April and two multipurpose Т3500 project tugs. In addition, it is planned to construct four POSS-115 project tugs (two of them will be put into operation in August and September), plus the P-140 floating crane at NIBULON shipbuilding and repair yard in 2018. In total, the company will launch six orders in 2018.
In the coming years, the company plans to enlarge its fleet up to 100 units, making it the largest and the most modern and effective one in Ukraine.