Ukrainian Danube Shipping Company continuing fleet modernization, 3 more ships sent to Austria

MOSCOW. July 4 (Interfax) - The Ukrainian Danube Shipping Company continues to modernize its fleet and has sent three more ships to Austria for being upgraded at the OSWAG shipyard, Ukrainian media said, citing a statement by Ukrainian Danube Shipping Company General Director Dmitry Moskalenko on a social network.

He said the company had minimized the cost of the 2,000-kilometer voyage to the shipyard in Litz.

"The distance between Ismail and Linz is over 2,000 kilometers. A distance of the kind covered by ships entails substantial expenses. We have found truly effective logistic solutions and managed to compensate the costs," Moskalenko said.

According to him, the ships headed to OSWAG as part of a 3+3 convoy (three self-propelled vessels and three barges). In Izmail, the convoy was loaded with iron ore (9,000 tonnes) to be unloaded in Smederevo (Serbia), after which the convoy, consisting of three motor ships, will head to Austria.

As reported, the modernization program financed by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) envisages engine replacement in five of the company's 45 ships. Ships will be prepared for modernization at the Ukrainian Danube Shipping Company plant in Ukraine and the engines will be replaced at the Austrian OSWAG shipyard. The first ship of the Captain Antipov type, which was sent to Austria in February, has had the first of two main engines installed (along with the gearbox). The company said that the first ship's modernization was entering the final stage.

It was also reported that the Ukrainian Danube Shipping Company and the IFC extended the agreement on modernization of the company's fleet, signed a year ago, on the sidelines of the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Berlin (URC2024). The Ukrainian Danube Company will receive long-term financing totaling 86 million euros for the fleet modernization and renovation.

Additionally, the IFC approved due diligence audit of the Ukrainian Danube Shipping Company.