ARKHANGELSK, April 25. /TASS/. The ship repair at Arkhangelsk docks is due to grow 2.5 times by 2035, deputy head of the region's government, Igor Muraev, told an Arctic shipbuilding conference that featured more than 200 industry experts from across the country.
"The regional government is aimed at comprehensive support for development of competencies in ship repair and shipbuilding in the region," he said. "These areas are identified as key directions in all strategic documents, including in the master plan to develop the Arkhangelsk agglomeration. The region has achieved certain results in this area. Over five years, the number of vessels that entered the Arkhangelsk docks for repairs and maintenance has increased from 180 to 350 a year. The queue is two years long, which points to a request for bigger capacity. The task is to increase ship repairs by 2.5 times by 2035, which, of course, will require the upgrade of existing enterprises, and creation of new enterprises, as well as modern technologies."
The conference organizers were the regional government and the Arkhangelsk Region Shipbuilding Cluster Association. The Northern (Arctic) Federal University hosted the event. The first Arctic shipbuilding event took place in Arkhangelsk in 2018.
"Recently, Arkhangelsk hosted a meeting, chaired by the president's Assistant Nikolay Patrushev, where the trans-Arctic logistics corridor was on the agenda. Arkhangelsk plays an important role on that route, and along with port infrastructures and a deep-water port site, the meeting discussed building ice-class vessels and a large-tonnage fleet. In order to solve these tasks most efficiently, we need platforms like this conference, where industry experts could share experience, could network," the official said.
Shipbuilding and ship repair
"In the past, participants in conferences of the kind were mainly commercial shipping and manufacturing companies, while now we can see the Arkhangelsk region's focus on scientific and technical development of shipbuilding and on Arctic shipping competencies," Director of the Arkhangelsk Region Shipbuilding Cluster Association Sergey Smirnov said. "The conference has three trends: Arctic shipbuilding, Arctic vessels repair, and personnel training."
The Arkhangelsk Region has been building new passenger watercraft, vessels for the auxiliary fleet, ice-reinforced tugboats. "The demand for these tugboats is very high, and I hope we will be able to offer them to the Arctic ports: to Arkhangelsk, as well as to Pevek, Dikson, Tiksi. Besides, we plan to develop further the port - to create a deep-water section, and to build up existing port infrastructures. Seven of the 12 existing terminals are working to supply Arctic projects and continue implementing successfully their investment programs: to build, upgrade and buy new equipment," the association's representative added.