Russia plans Kaliningrad shipbuilding cluster

Sergey Posledov, assistant general manager of the local Yantar shipyard, told The Motorship that Yantar would become the basis of the cluster. The grouping will focus primarily on commercial vessels.

Posledov said that the cluster will produce high-tech, midsized vessels for Russian shipping companies, as well supplying the Ministry of Emergency Situations, Ministry of Health and other state agencies. Some ships could also be exported to abroad.

Many of the vessels are expected to be sold to small Russian fishing operations. The demand for ships from local fisherman is estimated at about 450 units and is expected to grow during the next several years. The cluster will also build support vessels for Russian ports. At present the demand for such vessels exceeds 4,000 units, with pilot boats, tugs, dredgers and fire ships most in demand.

Another sphere of activities will involve building tourist and expedition ships for trips to Antarctica or the Northern Sea Route as well as Arctic expeditions. The new cluster will aim to start building offshore ships and ice-class cargo carriers, with improved parameters of speed and stabilisation, later this year.

Favourable climatic conditions, in particular soft winters and the status of the Kaliningrad as an unfrozen port, are expected to allow year-round shipbuilding according to the state’s plans for the cluster.

The government has already promised to provide tax incentives and other benefits to investors, the majority of which are expected to be Russian shipbuilding companies. According to a spokesman for the Ministry of Industry and Trade, these measures aim to enable the new cluster to complete with the similar clusters in South Korea and China.

Measures will also be implemented to attract specialists from Germany and other European shipbuilding countries to the cluster.

The cluster will be funded by the state budget and Yantar shipyard’s own sources, Posledov said. He added that the shipyard has not ruled out the possibility of foreign investment from countries including Germany, Finland, Sweden, and Poland.