Russian Industry Ministry includes shelf projects in shipbuilding program
ASTRAKHAN. Sept 28 (Interfax) - Russia's Industry and Trade Ministry has included shelf projects in the shipbuilding development program, Industry and Trade Minister Denis Manturov told reporters in Astrakhan on Saturday.
He said the ministry "came out with the initiative, the prime minister supported us [and] we submitted changes in time to the state program that is aimed at development of new projects for development of the continental shelf."
"There are five areas, ranging from marine vessels and submersible oil platforms to equipment, including software, where there is currently a certain shortage of Russian software for Russian oil and gas companies. Therefore, we included all the work that we planned in the state program and will implement it on schedule," Manturov said.
The minister arrived on Saturday at Lotos, the largest shipyard in the region, where he took part in the launch of the Yakov Gunin, an RST25 design tanker built for Moscow River Shipping. This is a new class of river-sea tanker intended to carry crude oil and oil products with higher standards of environmental safety and automation.