The latest crabber to be built for Russian Crab has been launched at the Onega Shipbuilding and Ship Repair Plant, and named after the company’s former director, Alexander Sapozhnikov, who died earlier this year.
The 57.70-metre, 12.60-metre beam viver crabber has a tank capacity of 440 cubic metres and will operate in the Russian Far East. It is the latest in a series of new vivier and processor crabbers being built for the company as it replaces its aging fleet of vessels converted from other uses with dedicated crabbing vessels.
Alexander Sapozhnikov is the fourth to be built by the Onega Shipyard as part of the first stage of the Russian government’s investment quota initiative.
‘Alexander Sapozhnikov often said that even the most ideal vessels are just metal, but they are filled with life by people’s attitude to work,’ commented Dmitry Sapov, deputy general director for new fleet construction at Russian Crab Group.
‘The crabbers built at the Onega yard have already proven their effectiveness and confirmed their compliance with the design specifications.’
Alexander Anatolyevich Sapozhnikov was a significant figure in the fishing industry. Despite his relatively short involvement, he did a lot for its development. He provided a powerful impetus to the improvement of not only the Russian Crab Group of Companies, but also the entire sector as he managed the Russian Crab Group of Companies from 2020 to 2024 as general director.
Under his management, the company rapidly grew from a small enterprise to a leader in the crab fishing industry of the Far East, becoming one of the largest crab fishers in Russia. During this time, the company’s fleet grew from three to 39 vessels, construction of modern crab vessels began, more than 2000 new jobs were created for the crew, and Russian Crab products appeared on international markets.
