VLADIVOSTOK, November 22. /TASS/. The Russian fish factory vessel Pyotr Zhitnikov that caught fire in the Sea of Japan and is currently under repairs in the Primorye Region will take to the sea in February next year, a spokesperson for Dalmoreprodukt ship-owner company told TASS on Friday.
The vessel did not sustain any serious damage and can be repaired, the company’s representatives said earlier. The repairs were initially expected to be completed by December.
"Along with the basic repairs after the fire, it was decided to carry out additional work because the floating fish factory currently has no tasks at sea. It will take to the sea for receiving fish catches tentatively in February," the spokesperson said.
The fire on the floating fish factory broke out in the former crab workshop on September 23. There were 420 people aboard the vessel, of whom 361 were evacuated by fishing vessels to the Island of Shikotan (the Kuril Islands in the Sakhalin Region) while 59 remained aboard the ship to fight the fire as an emergency team. Subsequently, the emergency team grew to 65 people. The fire on the floating fish factory was extinguished on September 30. All the crewmembers were delivered by aircraft to Vladivostok, the vessel’s homeport.
During its probe, the Prosecutor’s Office exposed breaches of fire safety and safe navigation rules. An administrative case was opened against the vessel’s captain while the ship-owner company was ordered to eliminate the exposed violations.
The Sodruzhestvo-type floating fish factory Pyotr Zhitnikov was built in 1989 and belongs to Dalmoreprodukt. This is one of the largest floating fish factories and is designed for receiving crabs and raw fish from catching vessels, their processing as cans, preserves, frozen products, fish flour, crab meal and oil and for supplying and servicing catching vessels. The Russian-flagged vessel has gross registered tonnage of 32,096 tonnes and deadweight of 10,070 tonnes. It is 179.03 meters long and 28 meters wide.