RF Ministry of Industry and Trade says construction of over thirty fishing ships has been contracted in Russia with more than 120 ships to be built by 2025. They will replace half of the fleet in this segment.

Support fleet in Russia still consists, to a great extent, of obsolete ‘soviet’ series vessels. There is a great demand for tugboats, bunkering ships, icebreakers. Also, classification of vessels is to be revised. Leading international manufacturers are ready to assist in construction of required ships.

Global climate changes, tougher environmental requirements in the shipping industry, emerging-market economic development and growing urbanization present new challenges for the transport industry of the future and today. ABB, leading supplier of maritime equipment, told IAA PortNews about the latest energy-efficient technologies and projects featuring conscious attitude to environment.

The Kaliningrad Region is long on plans to accumulate container flows at its terminals. Two alternative projects are under consideration today: construction of a deep-water terminal and dredging of a seaway canal. The negotiations to resume a ferry link with Sassnitz are also underway. Experts are skeptical about those plans.

MASHPROMLEASING JSC is boosting its portfolio of shipbuilding projects. In his interview with IAA PortNews, Aleksandr Babich, General Director of MASHPROMLEASING JSC, tells about specific features of leasing for various types of ships, financing of PV300 cruise ship and prospects of the operational leasing.

Virtually all largest tanker operators worldwide, excluding Sovcomflot of Russia that had successfully diversified its business, demonstrated a loss in the first half of 2019. Meanwhile, both refineries and tanker fleet operators are preparing for environmental restrictions effective from 2020.

Russia continues intense development of its port infrastructure that implies a considerable scope of dredging works. Rosatom has joined the list of customers. Among the largest dredging projects are dry cargo area of Taman port, Utrenny terminal, port in Pionersky, port Lavna. The construction of a fleet of dredgers is underway in Russia.

Although some large ports worldwide impose bans on open loop scrubbers and closed ones feature high price and weight, global shipping industry continues equipping ships with scrubbers while scientists emphasize larger emissions of green house gases during the production of low sulfur fuel as compared with that of high sulfur content.

In recent years, Russia has been active in the Arctic. Belfracht is one of the shipping companies that has been operating in the region for a long time. The Belfreight press office told IAA PortNews about the shipping company’s activity, development plans, outlook for shipping along the Northern Sea Route and the problem of illegal ship breaking at yards in the Arkhangelsk region.

There is a complicated situation unfolding in the Russian part of the Gulf of Finland concerning marine border crossing rules: mooring of commercial vessels at some anchorage locations in the harbours of Primorsk and Ust-Luga appeared to be illegal. Border service officials reported several masters had been fined. Now to solve the problem it is to be micromanaged.