At the Admiralty Shipyards (St. Petersburg), a solemn ceremony of laying the keel of the fifth of ten fishing vessels, which will be built here for the Russian Fishery Company (RFC), took place, according to RFC's release.
Representatives of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Rosrybolovstvo and Sberbank - the financial partner of the RFC in the implementation of the project – attended the ceremony. A commemorative plaque on the keel of the future trawler was installed by the General Director of the Russian Fishery Company Viktor Litvinenko, General Director of the Admiralty Shipyards Alexander Buzakov, Vice President, Head of the Department of Global Markets of Sberbank Andrey Shemetov, Director of the Department of the Shipbuilding Industry and Marine Equipment of the Ministry of Industry and Trade Boris Kabakov.
The series of fishing vessels for the RFC is the largest ordered to Russian shipbuilders. The first two vessels were launched in March and June 2020 and will be delivered to the customer in the coming months. The second pair of super trawlers will be launched this year.
The supertrawlers under construction for the RFC are one of the largest and most technologically advanced Russian fishing vessels. Each new vessel is designed for an annual catch of about 60 thousand tons of fish, which is 2.5 times higher than the productivity of the vessels that currently form the basis of the fishing fleet in the Far East of the Russian Federation. The features of the new fleet will be significantly increased production capacity, maximum safety, high environmental friendliness and improved working and rest conditions for crews.
The vessels will be equipped with a modern factory capable of deep waste-free processing of the entire catch into products with high added value, primarily Pollock fillets and surimi. Energy-saving innovations are applied in the equipment of new vessels. The trawl complex includes electric wire rope winches that allow energy recovery and redirecting it to the needs of the main production and for general ship consumption, which will reduce fuel consumption.
The fish meal plant will use steam produced by a boiler using fish oil as fuel and utilizing the residual heat of the exhaust gases. Thanks to these technologies and the reduction in fuel consumption of a modern engine, CO2 emissions per tonne of fish caught will be cut in half. The construction of 10 vessels is carried out within the framework of the state program of investment quotas.
About Russian Fishery Company
RFC is one of the largest producers of Pollock globally. The company is among the three leading Russian producers of wild white fish. The main harvested species are Pollock and Pacific Нerring. RFC is engaged in fishing in the far Eastern fisheries basin. The Company’s large fishing vessels are well suited to work in all fishing areas and under all climate conditions. They are equipped with modern fishing and processing equipment from leading international suppliers that enables the vessels to harvest different types of seafood. Strategic goals of the Company involve increasing the output of high value-added products due to fleet modernization, building of new facilities. RFC is building a new fleet of supertrawlers. The first of 11 supertrawlers to be built for the RFC was handed over to the company in 2020.