Kremlin aide orders plan to modernize ship repair facilities in Kamchatka

PETROPAVLOVSK-KAMCHATSKY. Aug 10 (Interfax) - Kremlin aide Maxim Oreshkin has instructed the transport, industry, finance and economic development ministries to work out a comprehensive plan to modernize ship repair facilities on the Kamchatka Peninsula, the Kamchatka Territory government's press service said.

Oreshkin issued the instructions after a meeting in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky on the establishment of a ship repair cluster in the regional center and prospects for developing the region's ship repair and shipbuilding industry, the press service said. The meeting was attended by Governor Vladimir Solodov, and representatives of federal and regional government agencies, development institutions and city planning organizations.

All small ships and 50% of medium-sized vessels are currently repaired in Kamchatka, but there is virtually no repair of large vessels. They are repaired in Primorye, China and South Korea.

"The goal is to restore the industry that we have unfortunately lost over decades and for which all objective prerequisites exist. As mariners themselves say, it's impossible to pass by the coast of Kamchatka without calling on Petropavlovsk. This is the only sheltered port with such characteristics and port for maintenance," Solodov was quoted as saying in the press release.

The governor said that the development of the Northern Sea Route will make it possible to dramatically increase shipping in the next ten years.

"This means that we must be ready for growing demand for ship repair and this is what our initiatives are aimed at," Solodov said.

He said the plans for the ship repair cluster in the region have already been drawn up and the meeting discussed how various government agencies can get involved in the actual implementation of these plans.

The press service said that 34 businesses in the region are currently certified for ship repair work by the Russian Register of Shipping. Existing businesses have six docks with capacity of 800 to 25,000 tonnes. Along with comprehensive fleet services, there is also demand for small shipbuilding in Kamchatka.