23 May 2018 12:38

USC to deliver 15 civilian vessels in 2018, expects projects in Arctic

MOSCOW. May 23 (Interfax) - United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC) plans to deliver 15 civilian vessels to customers in 2018 and is counting on projects in the Arctic in future, the Russian state company's CEO, Alexei Rakhmanov said in an interview with Interfax.

"In the civilian division, we plan to deliver 15 vessels, including dry cargo vessels, tankers, including ice-class, a fishing vessel and several icebreakers, to customers," Rakhmanov said.

"Our emphasis remains the same: we will continue to build an icebreaker fleet and revive the cruise fleet. We have a large portfolio of orders for fishing vessels, an extensive program for building dry cargo vessels and tankers. The development of unmanned underwater vehicles, the profile of which is to search for mineral resources on the continental shelf in the Arctic Ocean, will continue," Rakhmanov said.

Promising projects include building an ice-resistant platform and wellhead platforms for Gazprom for the Kamennomysskoye-More field in the Gulf of Ob, and construction of metal sections and units for the Arctic LNG-2 liquefied natural gas plant, he said. There are also plans to build the North Pole drifting ice station for the Arctic and research vessels for the Federal Fisheries Agency, Rakhmanov said.