The keel of the first of a series of new trawlers for the Russian Fishery Company has been laid at the Admiralty Shipyard, part of the United Shipbuilding Corporation, in St Petersburg. The yard has also begun cutting steel for a second vessel, and the first pair of trawlers are expected to be delivered in the first half of 2020.
The series as a whole is planned so that new trawlers will be built in pairs, with roughly a year between each pair’s delivery.
‘Today’s event will undoubtedly become one of the brightest pages in the history of not only the Russian Fishery Company, but also the entire industry, which has long awaited such a breakthrough,’ commented RFC CEO Fedor Kirsanov.
‘Together with the Admiralty Shipyard, we are reviving the traditions of domestic civil shipbuilding, we are starting construction of a whole series of modern high-performance fishing vessels. Up to 2023, the Admiralty Shipyard will build six supertrawlers. These new vessels are built under the investment quota programme, under which the RFC has applied for the construction of three more similar factory vessels. This large-scale fleet renewal means that the company will significantly increase its efficiency and strengthen its leading position.’
He commented that it is not for nothing that these vessels are termed supertrawlers.
‘They are very environmentally friendly, energy efficient and make it possible to harvest and process twice as much fish as a regular fishing vessel. I am confident that with a reliable partner such as the Admiralty Shipyard, we will successfully build the world’s largest series of supertrawlers,’ he said.
These ST-192 trawlers are designed for fishing for pollock and herring with sophisticated, waste-free catch processing on board, and the high-performance fish processing installation capable of producing pollock fillets, surimi and other high-value products.
The ST-192 trawlers are expected to operate in Far East waters and measure 108.20 metres overall , with a 21 metre beam and a draft of 8.35 metres. Fuel capacity provides for a 45-day endurance and accommodation is for a crew of up to 139. Fishroom capacity is 5500 cubic metres.
According to the Russian Fishery Company, each vessel will be expected to catch and process around 50,000 tonnes of fish annually; twice as much as any of the company’s current vessels are capable of handling.
The construction of the six supertrawlers represents an investment of more than US$600 million (€527 million). Under the state programme of investment quotas for the construction of trawlers, RFC will receive an additional quota of more than 170,000 tonnes of pollock and herring quota per year. A decision on the company’s applications for the construction of three more supertrawlers is expected this year.
