Baltiysky Zavod is booked up till 2018 though it can face lack of orders later – BZ Director General
Baltiysky Zavod (United Shipbuilding Corporation, St. Petersburg) is currently booked till 2018. As IAA PortNews journalist reports, this was announced yesterday at the round table meeting “Russian shipbuilding: industry up or down?” by Aleksandr Voznesensky, Director General of Baltiysky Zavod – Shipbuilding OJSC (part of OSK, St. Petersburg), ex-Director General of the managing company on construction of New-Admiralty shipyard.
However, Aleksandr Voznesensky added that after 2018 “we can face serious problems if no structural changes are introduced into the industry.
Voznesensky believes that technological principles of the entire shipbuilding industry should be changed even if it is an expensive and long process.
“The whole world changed technological principles of shipbuilding in 70-80-ies with the transition to block system and application of heavy crane equipment. Unfortunately, cranes being used in Russia have average capacity of 100 tonnes. That means, we have to change technological principles of the industry as there are certain threats,” – he noted.
Among the ‘threats’ the speaker mentioned the risk of privatization of large customers, first of all FSUE Rosmorport.
“The Defense Ministry is certainly not to be privatized but there is a plan for Rosmorport privatization. So there is no guarantee that we will secure orders if the construction is expensive and takes long time. That is why we speak about the need to of absolutely new technological principles,” - Aleksandr Voznesensky said.
“We are in the past century now in terms of civil shipbuilding and we can build nothing over 80,000 tonnes at our shipyards, - he added. – There are two promising projects and a different production method which we should implement: the project in the Far East, on the basis of Zvezda shipyard and in Kronshtadt”.
Baltiysky Zavod OJSC specializes in construction of rank 1 surface-crafts, ice class vessels with nuclear and diesel-electric propulsion plants, nuclear floating energy units, floating distilling plants. The shipyard was set up in 1856. Over 157 years of its history Baltiysky Zavod was privatized several times and returned to state control when financial problems arose. In late 2011, the shipyard fell under the control of the state represented by the United Shipbuilding Corporation.