The number of ships delivered at Russian shipyards in 2023 increased by 36%

Civil shipbuilding in 2023 showed an increase in the number of ships delivered and their total tonnage. The flagships are passenger and tanker fleets. But, if you do not take into account the gravity platform for the NOVATEK LNG plant in the statistics, the cost of delivered civilian ships fell by 16% by 2022, while in special shipbuilding it increased by 62%. According to market participants and officials, an increase in the number and displacement of ships delivered is expected in 2024, but much will depend on the implementation of the Zvezda shipyard’s production program and the stability of equipment supplies from China.

In 2023, Russian shipyards increased the number of ships delivered (tonnage of more than 50 thousand tons) by 30 units, to 112 units, follows from the INFOLine report on the results of the shipbuilding industry. Of these, 90 belong to the civil segment, 22 to “special shipbuilding”. The total displacement of large and medium-sized vessels increased by 2.4 times, to 1.2 million tons, if we take into account the offshore base of the gravity platform for the NOVATEK Arctic LNG-2 LNG plant weighing 640 thousand tons (without it the increase was 10.7 %, up to 459 thousand tons). Approximately a quarter of the tonnage was accounted for by the tanker fleet; in special shipbuilding, almost 60% was occupied by the submarine fleet.

The total cost of delivered vessels, according to the INFOLine report, increased by 47.1%, to 330.6 billion rubles, again taking into account the NOVATEK platform. Without it, the cost of ships in civil shipbuilding fell by 16.4%, to 92.6 billion rubles, and in special ones, it increased by 62%, to 184 billion rubles. USC accounted for 59.1% of the total cost and 19.4% of the 2023 tonnage, the Zvezda shipyard was in second place with 22.9%, and the Ak Bars holding company was in third place. A new player has also appeared – Sitronics Group (part of AFK Sistema), represented by the Emperium shipyard, which builds electric passenger ships. USC did not give any comments to Kommersant.

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, in 2023, the shipyard delivered 108 civilian ships, including 64 ships with a displacement of more than 100 tons, Deputy Minister Viktor Evtukhov told Kommersant. In 2022, 84 civilian vessels were delivered to customers. “In general, in 2023, the order portfolio of industry enterprises included over 300 units of civil sea and river vessels, watercraft, as well as river and marine equipment, which are at various stages of construction,” he added. In particular, the official noted the transfer to customers of two Aframax oil tankers of project 114K, built at Zvezda, as well as the road-rail ferry Alexander Deev (Amur Shipyard). Ten fishing vessels were commissioned under the investment quota program, including two freezer processor trawlers (Admiralty Shipyards) and two crab catchers (Khabarovsk Shipyard).

As Alexey Osintsev, President of the Association of Fishing Fleet Shipowners, noted, the main challenge in 2023 remained sanctions restrictions on the import of equipment and commissioning work: “It was necessary to select analogue equipment and redesign the vessels under construction.” According to him, USC delivered eight fishing vessels.

President of the All-Russian Association of Fisheries German Zverev highlights several key trends for 2023, “which will continue to influence the situation with the fishing fleet.” “The first is the transition of USC to the external management of VTB, which will lead to the indexation of already concluded contracts for the construction of ships,” he says. “The second is the launch of the second stage of the investment quota program, which provides for the construction of new ships at Russian shipyards. The enterprises must build 26 crab catchers, several large-capacity fishing vessels and refrigerated transport vessels. Third, the potential for localizing ship repair. Last year, amendments to the Tax Code were adopted, providing for zero VAT on ship repair services. This is very important for fishermen.”

The expert also notes the development of small shipbuilding. In 2023, he emphasizes, “a historical event occurred”: Kamchatka shipbuilders built the first fishing vessel – a seiner, the first of seven for the fishing collective farm named after. V.I. Lenin. The volume of investments in the project exceeded 1.23 billion rubles.

What awaits shipbuilding in 2024

In 2024, active growth in the introduction of the passenger fleet will continue, believes the head of Infoline-Analytics, Mikhail Burmistrov, primarily due to orders from Vodokhod together with State Transport Leasing Company. He adds that in 2024 or, under unfavorable conditions, in 2025, two gas tankers, Alexey Kosygin and Sergey Witte (SSK Zvezda), may be delivered. They have already been launched, but the delivery date may be negatively affected by increased sanctions: the Zvezda shipyard was included in the US SDN-list on February 23. Also, the shuttle tanker Valentin Pikul should be built on Zvezda. At the end of 2024, the Baltic Shipyard is scheduled to transfer the icebreaker Yakutia to Rosatom. Thus, Mikhail Burmistrov concludes, there will be growth in civil shipbuilding in 2024 if Zvezda fulfills its production program.

This year it is planned to hand over to customers excursion pleasure passenger ships, passenger hydrofoil ships, dry-cargo river-sea vessels, large-capacity oil tankers and gas carriers, and auxiliary fleet vessels, says Viktor Evtukhov. Active construction of fishing fleet vessels will continue within the first stage of quotas, he is sure.

But the delivery of some fishing vessels will be postponed to 2025 due to “a large amount of redesign and replacement of component equipment,” clarifies Mr. Burmistrov. “For now, dependence on imports, especially in terms of ship engines and fish processing equipment, will remain high,” confirms Alexey Osintsev. “Russian manufacturers mainly produce simple machines and auxiliary equipment, the performance of which is already at a fairly good level.”

Mikhail Burmistrov notes the increased risks associated with secondary sanctions: almost any ship equipment is a dual-use product. Tighter sanctions threaten supplies from China. Another key problem for the industry, according to the expert, remains the shortage of personnel and difficult working conditions, primarily due to the insufficient level of automation and lack of dry docks: qualified specialists, who are in great demand, are less and less willing to work in the open air. He considers it “urgently necessary” to create capacities for the construction of large-capacity ships in the North-West of the Russian Federation, calling the “most cost-effective” project for the construction of a dry dock based on the unused boathouse of the Baltic Shipyard.

Natalya Skorlygina