A new fresher trawler for Russian fishing and processing company JSC Nord Vest FC is being built at the Akhtubinsk Shipyard.
Currently 80% complete, Merlang is designed to fish for groundfish in the northern waters of the Barents and Norwegian Seas, and has a fishroom able to hold 120 tonnes of chilled catch in ice. It will supply the company’s own processing plant in Murmansk.
Merlang is built under the Russian government’s investment quotas initiative.
‘This is an important step in the implementation of the fishing fleet renewal programme. Environmental standards are observed, comfortable conditions for the crew’s work and rest have been developed,’ commented Federal Fisheries Agency head Ilya Shestakov.
Outfitting is taking place as the systems on board are being commissioned and tested, with sea trials scheduled for the first quarter of next year. Merlang has a long delivery trip ahead of it to the north of Russia, as the Akhtubinsk yard is located in Astrakhan, closer to the Caspian Sea than the Barents Sea.
