The ship was built from 1979 to 1981 under the hull number 224 at the Finnish Hollming shipyard in Rauma . Two research submarines of the Mir type are stationed on board and are used for investigations in the deep sea . Usually 90 people are on board during research trips: 45 seamen , about 20 pilots for the submarines, technicians and engineers , 10 to 12 scientists and up to 12 passengers. There are 17 laboratories and a library on board with literature on underwater geology, oceanography and deep sea voyages of discovery. The quarters, on average for one person, are around 20 m 2 in size and have a toilet and bathroom. The ship is owned by the Russian Academy of Sciences . Between October 2009 and August 2010, the ship underwent a general overhaul in the Lloyd shipyard in Bremerhaven .
In May 1989 the research ship was ordered to the accident site of the sunken Soviet nuclear submarine Komsomolets . During diving trips, numerous fractures were found along the entire length of the submarine's pressure hull made of titanium. Two more trips to the wreck took place in 1994 and 1996. Breaks were sealed to prevent leakage of radioactive material from the reactor or the two nuclear-armed torpedoes .
The Akademik Mstislaw Keldysch became known primarily through the diving expeditions to the wrecks of the Titanic and the Bismarck . Filmmaker James Cameron chartered the ship for two expeditions to these two wrecks. The images from the 1996 Titanic expedition were used in the film Titanic . The expedition to the wreck of the Bismarck took place in 2002.
