Sevmash does not cope with “Prirazlomnaya”
Shipyard major Sevmash has announced that it will be unable to complete the construction of the “Prirazlomnaya” oil platform on schedule. The delay means that Gazprom will have to postpone production at the first ever offshore oil field in the Barents Sea.The “Prirazlomnaya” platform is built for the oil field with the same name in the Pechora Sea. The platform, built to resist the extreme climate of the Arctic, will be unprecedented in Russian engineering.
The construction of the platform has not proceeded smoothly, however. Sevmash has been forced to postpone the delivery of the platform several times. Now, the company admits that it will “most probably not be able to complete construction as planned by 2010”, RIA Novosti reports.
According to company representative Yuri Spiridonov, the main reason for the delay is a critical lack of manpower
The delays with the “Prirazlomnaya” is only one of several problems for Sevmash. The yard experiences problems also with other construction orders. Earlier this year, Norwegian shipping company Odfjell cancelled a major order from the plant because of delays.
The situation for Sevmash, one of the biggest shipyards in Russia with its 25,000 workers, is not all black however. At the same time as the company announces yet another delay with the “Prirazlomnaya”, it delivers another platform, a Moss SC-50, to a foreign client, Bclass.ru reports. In addition, the plant can expect a number of new orders from the federal Defence Ministry, which is stepping up funding of new vessels.
The yard will have to modernize should it be able to cope with the new tasks, however. In that process it might get help from the very top in Moscow. This week, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said a major loan from the powerful Vneshekonombank will be granted the Severodvinsk-based company, Rosbaltnord.ru reports.