The completion of the entire order (105 ships) is expected by 2026
Out of 105 ships are under construction at Russian shipyards as part of Phase 1 of investment quotas programme, 16 ships have been built including 12 units delivered between 2019 and 2022 (according to IAA PortNews). The plan for 2023 — 14 ships with the completion of the entire order expected by 2026, IAA PortNews correspondent cites Ilya Shestakov, head of Rosrybolovstvo (Russian Federal Fisheries Agency), as saying at the media briefing in Moscow.
According to Ilya Shestakov, the programme foresees the construction of 64 fishing ships and 41 crab catchers with 10 fishing ships and 6 crab catchers already built.
When speaking about the disruption of the deadline and the increase of the construction cost, the head of Rosrybolovstvo said that the initial 6-year long plan was extended by 2 years for various reasons. “So we expect all the ordered ships to be delivered by 2026,” he said adding that the deadline was shifted because of the pandemic, international sanctions and low competence of shipbuilders.
After a period of almost 40 years when Russian shipyards built no fishing ships or crab catchers, the year of 2016 marked the beginning of orders inflow due to transition to the auction based principle of allocating quotas in the fishing industry. The reform foresees that the market players should have their ships built in the Russian Federation to obtain a quota for bioresources. Construction of 105 modern fishing ships is foreseen by Phase I of the programme on granting fishing quotas in return for investments.
In late December 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law on Phase 2 of investment quotas and crab auctions with investment obligations. According to preliminary estimates, order portfolio under phase 2 of investment quotas programme exceeds 70 fishing ships including up to 35 crab catchers.
Phase II auctions will be held in August-September 2023, Ilya Shestakov said earlier.
More about Russian shipbuilding is in IAA PortNews’ annual analytical report “Shipbuilding in Russia” >>>>