The Vostochnaya Verf shipyard, under the management of USC subsidiary Amur Shipyard, has floated off a tenth crabbing vessel in a series for owners in the Russian Far East.
The 63.27-metre, 10.60-metre breadth Itelmen is a vivier crabber with a 257 cubic metre capacity for live crab in RSW tanks. It has a 1618kW main engine, accommodation for a crew of up to 21 and an operational endurance of up to 45 days.
This series of ten vessels built under the Russian government’s investment quotas initiative began with Okhotsk, which was delivered in 2021, followed by Ayan, Khabarovsk and Shantar, all of which are in operation, as have Andrey Basargin and Aurum. The ninth in the series, Senten, was formally handed over at the end of last year to fishing company Sever.
These crabbers are designed to be able to cope with the difficult conditions of the Sea of Okhotsk and Bering Sea. Ice strengthening enables them to operate in ice up to half a metre thick.
