Two crabbing vessels for Russian Crab, one of the largest operators in the Russian crab sector, have been formally handed over.
The newbuilds are a vivier crabber and a processor vessel, built on largely similar designs but at different yards. Kapitan Egorov is the second vessel in the 5712LS series, delivered by the Onega Shipbuilding and Shiprepair Plant. The first vessel built to this design was delivered in 2023 and is has been fishing in the Bering Sea and Sea of Okhotsk.
These vessels have a two-level hold with 32 independent vivier tanks that have a sophisticated system of control to ensure optimum salinity and oxygen levels in the water.
Factory crabber Kapitan Manzholin has been built at the Oka Shipyard, and this is the first in the 5712P series, outfitted with a factory deck capable of turning out 15 tonnes of finished product per day, and with a 150-tonne refrigerated fishroom capacity.
‘These two vessels demonstrate the potential for diversification of both shipbuilding and crabbing products. Live or cooked and frozen, Russian crab means quality. Modern crab catchers will expand our capabilities to offer new products and improve quality, said Russian Crab’s general director Yulia Yurova.
The two crabbers are part of an extensive round of fleet renewal of the wider Russian crabbing fleet, as well as Russian Crab Group’s large-scale investment in new capacity, and are part of the first round of investment quota auctions.
The handover ceremony for the two crabbers was held in St Petersburg and attended by Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Viktor Evtukhov, Federal Fisheries Agency head Ilya Shestakov, and representatives of the shipyards and Russian Crab Group.
‘Domestic shipyards are building a fishing fleet that we can really be proud of. The project meets the latest requirements for automation and digitalisation of production, and, no less important, it was created with people in mind. I think the crews will appreciate the new level of navigation safety, ergonomics and comfort,’ Viktor Evtukhov commented.
