Vessels Sailing Beyond Distanced Shorelines
Here's a revamped take on Russia's ambitious shipbuilding plans:
Denis Manturov, the first deputy prime minister of Russia, is leading the charge to modernize the domestic shipbuilding industry. The primary objective: replacing outdated vessels, with most of them built in the '70s and '80s, with cutting-edge technology. It's no small challenge, given that these ships form the main part of the new Strategy.
Most of the upcoming output will focus on auxiliary and technical fleet vessels, including tugboats, pilot, research, and floating crane ships. Together, they make up a whopping one-third of the vessels intended for production under all Strategy scenarios.
Coming in at a close second are mixed passenger-cargo ships, accounting for around 23% of the production. The fishing fleet and river-sea transport ships follow at approximately 17.5% and 15%, respectively. However, these ships have been mastered for years, requiring minimal special competencies.
Where things get interesting is the production of specialized marine transport ships, such as gas carriers for the Northern Sea Route (NSR) and the North-South transport corridor, as well as icebreakers. They make up around 12% of the total planned production. This focus is essential, considering their importance in implementing Russia's Energy Strategy until 2025, primarily LNG exports. By 2036, Russia is hoped to supply 130 million tons of LNG to the external market, and by 2050, 175 million tons. Currently, NOVATEK (LNG producer) and partners operate only 15 gas carriers, supplying about 20 million tons of liquefied natural gas, predominantly using the Western route. To make a dent in this situation, it's crucial to expand the gas carrier fleet for LNG transportation.
Asserting the importance of this sector, Manturov stated that boosting domestic production of ships for the NSR and the North-South transport corridor is a top priority. Currently, these ships are primarily built using foreign components, technologies, and even systems. The plan is to rectify this by ensuring domestic production of critical components for the shipbuilding industry.
The federal budget has been boosted significantly to help ship producers and customers, with over half a trillion rubles allocated over the next six years. This is an unprecedented level of funding for the industry, with a large chunk going toward the national project 'Technological Leadership' for 'Industrial Support of Transport Mobility.'
Professionals in the industry deem domestic production of ship components to be a key factor in the updated Strategy. According to reports by Expert, Dmitry Kolodyazhny, former Vice-President of the United Shipbuilding Corporation, emphasized that a ship's costs are largely determined by equipment, with the hull and outfitting accounting for less than 30%. To drive down costs and increase self-sufficiency, it's vital to address import substitution for crucial components such as propulsion systems, diesel engines, generators, and reduction gear equipment, where imports are currently high.
Manturov added that by overcoming structural barriers and increasing the share of serial construction of civilian ships, Russia hopes to enhance the value and utilization rate of existing production facilities. By 2036, the share of serial ships produced by Russian enterprises is expected to rise from 30% to 50% of the total shipbuilding volume, and to 80% by 2050. This will boost the utilization rate of existing production facilities to 61% by 2036 and 73% by 2050.
Another critical aspect is strengthening the industry's human resources. To meet the challenges of the updated Shipbuilding Strategy, the workforce is expected to grow by 15%, reaching 190,000 people by 2036. Additionally, efforts will be made to attract young scientists and designers to leading design bureaus.
In a nutshell, Russia is gearing up to enhance its domestic production of specialized marine transport ships, such as gas carriers, to support the Northern Sea Route and the North-South Transport Corridor. This move is crucial for Russia's Energy Strategy, aiming to boost energy independence and expand its global energy influence.
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- To support the expansion of Russia's energy exports, the focus will shift towards domestic production of gas carriers, a crucial part of the Northern Sea Route (NSR) and the North-South transport corridor, in the shipbuilding industry.
- In the quest for self-sufficiency, efforts will be made to substitute imports for key components such as propulsion systems, diesel engines, generators, and reduction gear equipment in the shipbuilding industry.
- As part of the updated Shipbuilding Strategy, the Russian government plans to increase the production of civilian ships, with a focus on serial construction, to enhance the domestic manufacturing industry and its energy strategy.
