The hull of the Hetman Ivan Mazepa corvette, the flagship of the future Ukrainian Navy, is made of steel produced at the Metinvest Group’s Illich iron and steel works and the Azovstal steel plant (both in Mariupol) before the full-scale war began.
The press service of the Metinvest Group said this in a statement, the CFTS portal reports.
"Usually, ships become famous after achievements or adventures, like Columbus' La Santa Maria or Nansen's Fram. However, the Hetman Ivan Mazepa made history even before it was launched. The first Ada-class corvette, the flagship of the Ukrainian Navy’s future fleet, was made from steel produced at Metinvest’s Mariupol-based plants – the legendary ‘participants’ in the defense of the City of Mary," the group said in the statement.
The keel-laying ceremony for the new corvette took place at the RMK Marine Shipyard in Turkey in September 2021. Metinvest delivered over 1,000 tons of hot-rolled steel sheets for the production of the corvette. Part of the steel was delivered directly from Mariupol (the Illich iron and steel works) and part from the Metinvest Trametal steel plant (Italy), where rolled steel was made from slabs produced at Azovstal.
The Hetman Ivan Mazepa was launched at a ceremony in Istanbul on 2 October.
The corvette will later be equipped with modern weapons and go into service in the Ukrainian Navy.
Ada-class corvettes are modern littoral combat ships. They have anti-submarine warfare and high-seas patrol capabilities. The principles of low observable technology are extensively used in its design, reducing radar, infrared, and other surveillance visibility.
A ship of this type was built at the Istanbul Naval Shipyard for the first time in 2008. It cost approximately USD 260 million at the time.
