The first new crabbing vessel for Russian owners to be built at a Far East shipyard has successfully completed initial sea trials.
Built at Vostochnaya Verf, the 63.27 metre LOA, 10.60 metre breadth Okhotsk will have capacity to carry 100 tonnes of crab on board. The first of its kind, it is to be followed by the similar Ayan, which was brought out of the yard’s construction hall June for sandblasting, painting and equipment installation, and will shortly be ready to be floated off.
Okhotsk is expected to be ready for handover to its owners soon, once final checks and tests have been carried out.
‘Okhotsk performed perfectly on trials at sea, with the customer, representatives of the Japanese equipment suppliers and yard staff on board,’ said Vostochnaya Verf’s executive director Vasily Molodtsov, commenting that careful management and quality control during the build have ensured that trials were quick and straightforward.
‘This is an important step, because we were the first in the Far East to build a crab fishing vessel within the framework of the President’s investment quotas programme, and we plan to commission it more than a month ahead of schedule.’
The yard also expects to hand over second crabber Ayan to its owners at least five months ahead of schedule.
Crabber Okhotsk is the first of its kind to be built in the Russian Far East. Image: Vostochnaya Verf
