MOSCOW, October 27 (RIA Novosti) - The new Vice Admiral Zakharin minesweeper will join Russia's Black Sea Fleet in November, the Navy headquarters said on Monday. (Russia's Black Sea Fleet - Image gallery)

"The minesweeper is currently in the final stages of official tests in Novorossiisk. The tests will be completed in November, and the warship will become part of the Black Sea Fleet," a Navy official said.

He said that initially, the minesweeper was to be transferred to the Northern Fleet, but that a decision was then made to give it to the Black Sea Fleet.

The construction of the Vice Admiral Zakharin started in 1994 as a 266ME minesweeper for Vietnam, but in 2000 it was redesigned as 'Project 02668' and completed in 2006.

The ship has a displacement of 853 metric tons, a length of 61 meters, and a width of 10.2 meters. Its maximum speed is 16 knots and its effective range is almost 5,000 km (3,000 miles) at 12 knots per hour. The minesweeper has a crew of 60.