American divers will help to lift-up a sunken Soviet era cutter 

American divers, who are participating in the Sea Breeze 2021 international exercises, will help the Naval Forces of Ukraine to lift-up the Burevestnik cutter. The cutter was built in the 1960s and sank in 2016 in the Prakticheskaya harbor of the Odesa port.

According to Dumskaya, next to the pier, near which the cutter rests on the seabed, the Americans have already equipped the base with the equipment necessary for the operation. They also have pretested the object.

The Burevestnik cutter (Coastguard Cruiser-51) was built in the 1960s and was designed for the recreation of the country’s leaders. Leonid Brezhnev, General Secretary of the Communist Party Central Committee, went to sea several times on the boat. The length of the cutter was 37 meters, and the deadweight was 150 tons. “Burevestnik” sank on January 8, 2016 in the Prakticheskaya part of the Odessa port. The hull of the cutter, which now rests on the bottom of the harbor, interferes with mooring.

“The preliminary examination showed that the hull is in very poor condition. Even if it can be lifted entirely, it is unlikely to be restored. Five years under water is a sentence for a wooden ship,” says the head of the search and rescue service of the Naval Forces of Ukraine, first rank Captain Alexei Nesterov.

The divers are confident that they will be able to lift-up the rare cutter. There is a floating crane near the site where the boat sank, but the lift plan calls for the use of special pontoons to lift the cutter. According to preliminary information, the preparatory work will take about two more weeks, and the entire operation will be completed by the 1st of August this year.