The St. Petersburg-based Admiralty Shipyards is preparing to hand over the third of six diesel-electric submarines on order to the Vietnam Navy on December 10, according to the Russian news agency Interfax.

“An act of technical acceptance of the submarine was signed on December 4,” Interfax reports. The submarine, christened Haiphong, is expected to arrive in Cam Ranh port on December 10.

Earlier, during his Russian visit in 2009, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung had signed a contract to purchase 6 diesel-electric submarines from Russia following the Project 636.1.

The first and the second submarines - Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh - are now anchoring at Cam Ranh port.

A fourth submarine of the series is undergoing sea trials.

Project 636.1 diesel-electric submarines are third-generation submarines equipped with a Club anti-boat missile system, which considerably expands the splash zone. Due to their super-low noise level, these submarines are called ‘black holes in the ocean’.

VOV/VNN