Construction of fishing ships in Russia
RF Ministry of Industry and Trade says construction of over thirty fishing ships has been contracted in Russia with more than 120 ships to be built by 2025. They will replace half of the fleet in this segment.
The largest fishing ship to be built in Russia is a large freezer trawler of Project 5670WSD named Victor Gavrilov. The ship’s length will be 121 m, width – 21.6 m, displacement – about 13,000 t. The ship will be equipped with a pelagic trawl and will have a fish processing plant and freezing holds for keeping ready products. The ship was ordered by Fishing Collective Farm named after V. Lenin (Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky). The keel-laying ceremony was held at Kaliningrad, Russia based Baltic Shipyard Yantar on 26 August 2019 with the delivery scheduled for 2023.
Other large ships will be built by Admiralteiskie Verfi shipyard for Russian Fishery Company. The contract foresees the con construction of six freezing trawlers of Project СТ-192.01 in 2020-23. The ships’ length will be 108.5 m, width – 21.5 m. They will operate in the Far East Basin. The concept design was developed by Skipteknisk (Norway), the technical design – by Marine Engineering Bureau, the detailed design – by Vympel Design Bureau. The trawlers are intended for catching pollack and herring, their deep and nonwaste processing, storage and transportation to a port. The vessel is designed to catch over 50,000 tonnes of fish per year. Its capacity of making products with high added value has been more than doubled as compared with the existing ships. The first ship in the series was laid down on 23 January 2019, the second one – on 8 April 2019.
The third largest ships will be four freezing trawlers of Project КMT01 to be built by Vyborg Shipyard in 2019-20 to the order of JSC Arkhangelsk Trawl Fleet (a company of North West Fishing Consortium). Ships of 86 meters in length and 16 meters in width will operate in the Northern Basin. The lead ship named Barents Sea was launched on 5 December 2018. It is the first full-fledged large-capacity fishing ship built by a Russian shipyard. Each ship will be able to process 160 tonnes of fish per day. The vessels of Project KMT01 with dimensions of 86 m x 17 m will have Ice3 Class and with an option of hull strengthening to Arc4 Class are intended for operation in the Northern fishing basin. On board the vessels there will be installed an automated plant for processing and production of fillets, fish meal plant, equipment for fish oil production and a canning plant. The second ship in the series, the Norwegian Sea, was launched on 17 May 2019.
Then come 81-meter long and 16-meter wide processing trawlers of Project 170701 ordered by Murmansk Region Fleet JSC (a company of NOREBO Group). Six ships for the Northern Basin will be built by Severnaya Verf shipyard in 2020-22. On 23 September 2019, the shipyard started cutting metal for the fourth unit in the series intended for bottom and pelagic trawling, processing and storage of fish. he ships’ multifunctional fish processing plants are intended for production of fillet, minced fish, fish liver and fish flower.
Four freezing trawlers of Projects КМТ02.01, КМТ02.02, КМТ02.03 of 80.4 meters in length and 15.4 meters in width are under construction at Vyborg Shipyard with the delivery scheduled for 2019-22. The design foresees bottom trawling of fishes and shrimp, production of frozen sea products, processing of the catch on board the vessel. The lead ship of KMT02 design, Nord Pilgrim, ordered by a company bearing the same name was laid down on 16 January 2018 and launched on 3 September 2019. The second ship named Yury Matochkin, was laid down on 1 November 2018.
Pella shipyard in the Leningrad Region is building three mid-size freezing trawlers of Project 03095 ordered by Murmanseld 2. Ships of 69.9 meters in length and 13.5 meters in width are intended for operation in the Northern Basin. Four ships of the project are to be built in 2020-22. Two ships, the lead and the first serial one, were laid down in September 2017. The lead ship named Andromeda launched in April 2019 is being prepared for delivery to the customer, ahead of schedule. The first serial trawler of Project 03095, Castor, was launched on 16 September 2019. A series of four ships of Project 03095 is intended for catching bottom fish and its onboard processing. It is designed for operation in the Southern and Northern part of the Atlantic region.
Pella will also build three freezing trawlers of Project 3090 (length – 61.04 m, width – 12.7 m) with the delivery scheduled for 2020. The ship is designed for bottom and pelagic trawling.
Severnaya Verf shipyard is building three longline factory vessels of Project МТ 1112XL, Longliner (length – 58.85 m, width - 13 m). The construction of ships ordered by Fishing Company “Virma” (Group of Companies “Fishing Fleet of Karelia”) is to be completed in 2020. Project МТ1112XL features economic efficiency, sustainability and catch quality. The ships will be fitted with automated installation and hauling lines as well as equipment for deep and nonwaste processing of the catch.
Two mid-size trawlers of Project SK-3101R, Leninets (length – 50.6 m, width - 12 m), are under construction at Baltic Shipyard Yantar. The lead trawler named Leninets was delivered to the customer, Fishing Collective Farm named after V. Lenin (Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky), on 26 August 2019. The SK-3101R purse seine / pelagic trawler was designed by a Norwegian engineering company Skipskompetanse A.S. The vessel was designed for trawl, seine and purse seine deep-water fishing. The caught fish will be stored in sea-water cooled cargo tanks of RSW type.
Finally, Vympel Shipbuilding Plant is building a small freezer trawler of Project МРТР-30 (length – 35.4 m, width – 8.4 m) for the Northern Basin. МРТР 30 and МРТР 35 ships are intended to replace the worn out and obsolete ships of Baltika and Laukuva types. They are designed for bottom and pelagic trawling, fish processing and delivery of fresh and cooled fish to the shore. The new ships will have improved characteristics and modern equipment. There is also a possibility to install additional equipment for a complete nonwaste processing of fish. Crew accommodation facilities have been improved as well.
So, we can acknowledge the first steps towards the large-scale renovation of Russia’s fishing fleet.
It should be reminded that a new state support measure has been in effect from 2017 in compliance the fishery law – fishing quotas for investment purposes. So called investment quotas are to applied for construction of more than 40 vessels and over 20 plants, thus renovating about 65% of fleet operating in the Northern Basin and 25-30% of the Far East fleet. Together with the new fish processing plants this measure will let increase the share of products with high added value up to 40% in the total production. Besides, a new measure of state support is under development – subsidies to cover capital expenses for construction of mid- and small-size vessels.
Thus, more than 120 vessels can be built by 2025 to replace 50% of the old fleet.
“The industry had to be given a shake. With the investment quotas and other measures of state support, investments in renovation of facilities will make some RUB 300 billion in the nearest five years, fish processing plants will be built, economic efficiency of fish production will be increased and new jobs will be generated. Earlier, there were no mechanisms for attraction of such investments. The industry just used to see the purchase of old ships and their modernization”, said Ilya Shestakov, Deputy Minister of Agriculture of the Russian Federation - head of Rosrybolovstvo (Russian Federal Fisheries Agency), when speaking at the “Investing in the Fishing Industry: Achievements and Next Steps” session of the 5th Eastern Economic Forum.
Nevertheless, construction of fishing ships in Russia is primarily based on projects of foreign design bureaus. The industry experts say their designs are often overloaded with functions, which is reflected by higher costs.
As deputy head of Rosrybolovstvo Peotr Savchuk told IAA PortNews earlier, there is a localization trend in the part of design. “A transition to the next phase when some of the requirements can be toughened is under consideration”, said Peotr Savchuk. He also emphasized that local content of components in newly built fishing ships is up to 40% and tends to increase. Read the full interview at the website of IAA PortNews >>>>
Vitaly Chernov
