Modernization can prove to be more costly than construction of a ship
Ordering of special ships for tourism is easier than modernization of research vessels for cruises since they were built for a different purpose, Sergey Gorkov, General Director of RosGeo, said when answering the question of IAA PortNews correspondent.
“This issue is under discussion but our ships are not designed for cruises, they are intended for research and do not have enough cabins. The decks are equipped with winches. If you look at our decks, you will see heavy technological equipment. There is, may be, a hypothetical possibility to use one ship, no more,” explained Sergey Gorkov.
According to him, modernization can prove to be more costly than construction of a ship from scratch.
In September 2022, Aleksandr Kozlov, Minister of Natural Resources and Ecology of the Russian Federation, told about the Ministry’s project of public private partnership which foresees the conversion of research ships into cruise ones. According to him, the Ministry has nine vessels of that kind with no contracts for the coming three years: two ships of RosHydroMet and seven ships of RosGeo. Those vessels are licensed for ra of passengers by the Russian Maritime Register of Shipping. According to preliminary estimates, conversion of 9 vessels can cost less than RUB 100 million.