In Magadan they plan to restore the fishing port for 40 billion rubles.

In Magadan, they plan to restore the fishing port and build a ship maintenance complex on its territory. The cost of the project, which is proposed to be implemented on the basis of public-private partnership, will be about 40 billion rubles. mainly budget funds. Market participants note the favorable position of Magadan close to fishing areas in the Sea of ​​​​Okhotsk, which reduces the costs of fishermen: now ships have to travel six days to Vladivostok, while to Magadan it takes only a day or two.

“Kommersant” became aware of the details of the project for the reconstruction of the decaying fishing port of Magadan and the construction there of a complex for servicing vessels of the fishing fleet. The concept was developed by the regional authorities. According to a Kommersant source, the project is to be discussed on October 13 at a meeting chaired by Governor Sergei Nosov.

The Magadan fishing port, built in 1965, has not been operational since the 2010s, there is only a pier and many sunken old ships. At the same time, a Kommersant source in the industry says, in terms of proximity to the main fishing areas, the port has a unique position: in the northern and central parts of the Sea of ​​Okhotsk, about 200 thousand tons of fish are caught, as well as 200 thousand tons of salmon during the fishing season. Now, during the period of active fishing, vessels face long periods of downtime waiting for overload or its control in Vladivostok, ranging from two to five days, due to which 47.6 thousand shipping hours are lost per year, and economic losses reach 3.8 billion rubles.

The regional government is considering a fish transshipment scheme through Magadan as an alternative to delivery through Primorye. It is proposed to modernize the fishing port and create a complex there for servicing fishing vessels, including acceptance, transshipment, processing and storage of products, as well as servicing small and coastal vessels.

According to the concept, the fish is delivered to the port of Magadan, reloaded into a refrigerated container using the ship-to-container principle and then sent to the recipient by road along the Kolyma highway, by sea to the port of Vladivostok or along the Northern Sea Route, as well as directly to the Asia-Pacific countries. Transshipment volume is 200–220 thousand tons per year. The port will be able to service vessels of various types, including vessels with a draft of up to 10 m and a gross tonnage of up to 10 thousand tons.

The project is proposed to be implemented on a PPP basis. At the expense of the budget, a system of hydraulic structures and engineering infrastructure will be built, which will remain state property. The cost of this work is about 28 billion rubles. Private investments are estimated at 10 billion rubles. Among the investors, according to a Kommersant source familiar with the situation, is Mag-Sea International LLC. Construction time is three to five years.

The fishermen’s task is to fish without interruption, says Alexey Osintsev, president of the Association of Fishing Fleet Shipowners: “After several months of fishing, it is important to quickly get the vessel serviced, change the crew and go to sea again. That’s why updating the ports is important for us.”

The Far East accounts for about 75% of the national catch, 60% of fish producers and 65% of Russian fish exports in money, says the President of the All-Russian Association of Fisheries German Zverev: “Currently 51% of the vessels of the Far Eastern fleet are serviced in the Primorsky Territory, 31% in Kamchatka, 16 % – in Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands and only 2% – in Magadan. The terminal for comprehensive ship maintenance in Magadan will include product unloading, parking, bunkering, inter-voyage maintenance (IMT), crew changes, and replenishment of supplies. Considering the cost and safety factors of navigation, MRTO is a defining aspect of fleet maintenance.”

Mr. Zverev cites the main factor in the attractiveness of Magadan as its geographical proximity to fishing areas in the Sea of ​​Okhotsk, where pollock and Pacific herring are caught, which accounted for 49% of the Russian catch in 2022. “So, the passage of a vessel from the main fishing areas to the most popular port of Vladivostok in the summer takes at least six days, and the journey to the port of Magadan will take one or two days,” he says. “At the same time, the cost of passage to Primorye for one vessel is estimated at $100 thousand. Between September and May, about 50 vessels are engaged in pollock fishing.” Another advantage of Magadan, he noted, is the presence of a deep-water bay, which means the opportunity to expand berths with a total length of at least 100 m.

Natalya Skorlygina