The last active Soviet-era Kara class cruiser is to be scrapped after the cost of repairs to recent fire damage proved to be uneconomical. The imposing 8,900-tonne RFS Kerch was to have become the Black Sea Fleet flagship later this year, during the current incumbents refit, but will now be broken up near to where she was completed in 1974. The Ukrainian-built warship had been slated to remain in service for another four years, until a blaze on 4 November 2014, which occurred during a maintenance period at Sevastopol, and which resulted in an engine room and a number of compartments in the aft end of the ship being destroyed. Despite the efforts of three fire-fighting tugs, the fire took 18 hours to be extinguished completely. There were no reported casualties.
展开▼
