Waiting list for civil ship repair in Arkhangelsk Region is 2‒3.5 years long
The demand is expected to grow 2.5 times in the near time
Shortage of dock facilities is estimated by the Arkhangelsk Region authorities at one 9,000-tonne dock minimum although it is not to solve the problem of surging demand in view of overloading and wear of the available production facilities, Dmitry Yurkov, representative of Arkhangelsk Region Government for the Arctic development, said when presenting the region in Moscow at the event organized by Far East and Arctic Development Corporation.
According to the speaker, the acute shortage of dock facilities in the Arkhangelsk Region was caused by the closure of the foreign ship repair market for the Russian Federation. Over a half of the region’s ships used to be repaired outside Russia. The fleet of the Arkhangelsk Region numbers about 300 units including 70 ice-class dry cargo carriers, 150 ships of mixed sea/river class, 20 ships of auxiliary fleet, 15 fishing ships and 12 research and rescue vessels. The fleets of the Murmansk Region and the Nenets Autonomous District number additional 210 units.
The expert says that out of five major ship repair companies with docks ranging between 1,000 and 9,000 tonnes only two can be operated round the year. Average age of the docks is about 50 years. Most of the facilities are engaged in implementation of military orders while the waiting list for civil ship repair is 2‒3.5 years long.
“The demand is expected to grow 2.5 times in the near time, hence the need for at least one 9,000-tonne dock. As of today, there are three sites in the Arkhangelsk region where new dock facilities can be located. However, even three new yards is not enough to solve the problem. A possible solution could be to include a large repair base in the project for the construction of a new deep-water port, which is foreseen by the Arkhangelsk transport hub development project, approved by the NSR Development Strategy until 2035,” he said adding that the deep-water port project at Cape Kuisky is now at the stage of “analytics development in view of cargo flow changes”. “Hopefully, we will hold the talks with potential shippers and co-investors by March 1, 2023 and we will be able to elaborate this project,” the official said.
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