Volga Shipping Company (part of UCL Holding) says it is preparing 183 vessels for the navigation season, 5 more cargo ships than in 2017. Fleet maintenance facilities and ship repair yards are repairing hulls, engines, mechanisms, electric and radio equipment.
Specific feature of the internavigation period of 2017-2018 is little time for repair of cargo ships. Under new regulations of Russian River Register, vessels of mixed sea/river M-PR class can enter the Azov Sea including the Kerch Strait from 1 March 2018 (last year they could operate in that basin from April 1). Vessels of Volga Shipping Company involved in transshipment of grain are being prepared for an early navigation.
14 ships of Volgo-Don type and 6 vessels of the towing fleet will undergo dock repair of hulls and propulsion/steering units. That is a large scope of work. Therefore, all partners of Volga Shipping Company, ship repair yards in the Nizhny Novgorod, Leningrad, Rostov, Volgograd regions and the Mari El Republic, will be involved. The scope of repair works and investments of the company into preparation of vessels for the navigation season is growing from year to year.
Regular maintenance of self-propelled and non-self-propelled vessels, their preparation for the navigation period is being performed by the crews at the fleet maintenance facilities in the Nizhny Novgorod and Volgograd regions.
Technical Service and Procurement Departments of Volga Shipping Company deal with domestic and international manufacturers of spare parts and paintwork materials. Permanent monitoring is underway in the market of suppliers for optimization of supply lines and procurement, when it comes particularly to cost and quality of materials used for ship repair.