Turkey's Tersan builds second supertrawler for Okeanrybflot

PETROPAVLOVSK-KAMCHATSKY. Oct 14 (Interfax) - The Turkish shipyard Tersan Tersanecilik has completed the construction of the supertrawler Vladimir Biryukov for JSC Okeanrybflot, the customer's press service said.

The Russian flag has been raised on the vessel, it said.

The Vladimir Biryukov is the second of the two vessels built in Turkey for Okeanrybflot. The first one has already started fishing.

"Force majeure circumstances affected the construction a lot, but you have to hand it to them, the administration of the company Terson has confirmed its readiness to complete the project regardless of the circumstances since the very start [...] We, in collaboration with the Turkish side, found ways of solving the problem, and we are optimistic about the future. All alarms are over, the vessel has been built and will head to Russia soon," Sergei Kislov, head of the shipbuilding department at Okeanrybflot, was quoted as saying in the report.

According to earlier reports, JSC Okeanrybflot signed a contract with Tersan Tersanecilik Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S. for the construction of a vessel worth $16.75 million and 67.624 million euro (almost six billion rubles according to the rate at that time) in June 2018. The supply was scheduled for April 2021, and the construction of the second trawler was expected to start immediately, the company said then. The sides signed a contract for the construction of the second vessel worth 6.1 billion rubles in early 2020.

Okeanrybflot was founded in 1968. The company's fleet comprises 12 large refrigerator fishing trawlers, the new supertrawlers Georgy Meshcheryakov and Vladimir Biryukov, and four transport vessels. The company's fishing vessels fish Alaska Pollack, squid, and herring in the Sea of Okhostsk and the Bering Sea.

Okeanrybflot's revenue was 19.47 billion rubles in 2021, and the company's net profit was 5.43 billion rubles. According to the company's data as of late March 2020 (no more recent data are available), the main owners of the company are Igor Yevtushok and Senator Valery Ponomaryov, who own 48.92% of the shares.