Sakhalin's fishing fleet will be able to undergo repairs in South Kuril - authorities

YUZHNO-SAKHALINSK. Nov 7 (Interfax) - Dalnevostochny Rybak Group (JSC Dalnevostochny Rybak Management Company) is modernizing the ship repair plant of its Ostrovnoy Fish Processing Plant LLC on Shikotan Island (the South Kuril Islands of the Sakhalin region), after which the plant will be able to repair the region's high-tonnage fishing fleet, the regional authorities' press service said.

"On Shikotan Island, the ship repair plant of Ostrovnoy Fish Processing Plant is being modernized. After its renovation, the Sakhalin region will for the first time have the capability to repair vessels with a displacement of up to 6,000 tonnes. This will allow the region's fishing enterprises to not send their fleet for maintenance abroad or to other regions of the Far East," the press service said.

The modernization of the ship repair facilities at the plant will be completed in December this year, it said. The enterprise is ready to service up to 100 vessels per year, with 60% of them from third-party organizations.

During a working trip to the South Kuril district, the region's governor Valery Limarenko familiarized himself with the progress of work on modernizing the ship repair plant. A slipway - a plane with rail tracks for launching or lifting ships from the water - has been installed there. The fish processing plant services its own fleet, whereas just a year ago it had to be sent for repairs to South Korea.

"It will be possible to repair vessels with a displacement of up to 6,000 tonnes at our plant after the large-scale modernization work, and the capability to service several vessels simultaneously will also appear," the fish processing plant's general director Mikhail Kulinich was quoted as saying.

According to the company's website, Ostrovnoy produces canned fish, preserved fish, fish meal and fish oil as well as frozen semi-finished products at the coastal fish processing complex on Shikotan Island.

Dalnevostochny Rybak Group unites seven companies. The fleet exceeds 30 vessels. Almost the entire fishing fleet is equipped with factories for processing freshly caught raw materials and freezing ready semi-finished products, and some have lines for producing cod and pollock fillets.

The shareholders of JSC Dalnevostochny Rybak Management Company are not disclosed. According to reporting for 2022, the company was owned by Alexei Baiguzin, Oleg Simchuk and Anatoly Galkin at the end of that year.