ST. PETERSBURG, February 16. /TASS/. Nikolay Patrushev, an aide to the Russian president and the chairman of the Marine Board, suggested exploring the issue of creating a single authority to oversee marine propulsion technology.

"Establishing a research and technology reserve in marine engine-building and improving coordination of research institutions and plants’ activities in this sphere" are among the critical tasks, Patrushev said at a meeting on marine propulsion technology development. "Thus, we propose to consider creation of a single competence center on ship engine-building," he noted.

The Marine Board chairman suggested that heads of the Krylov State Research Center and the St. Petersburg Marine Technical University to put forward proposals on setting up such a competence center and organizing its operations.