The shipyards lowered everything possible – Newspaper Kommersant No. 9 (7454) of 01/19/2023

Russian shipyards in 2022 reduced the number of ships and vessels delivered by about 20%, but at the same time their total tonnage increased by more than half, according to INFOLine data. More than half of the increase was accounted for by the tanker fleet, primarily due to large-capacity vessels commissioned by Zvezda SSC. However, the continuation of their construction is questionable, given the existing difficulties in the interaction of the shipyard with foreign, primarily South Korean, partners. In 2023, the delivery of 60-70 large civilian vessels is expected, the key equipment for which was supplied from unfriendly countries by the spring of 2022. Analysts see 2024 as the most difficult year in terms of delivery.

The number of vessels and ships commissioned in 2022 has decreased, follows from the INFOLine Shipbuilding Russia Top rating. In particular, in the category of more than 50 tons, the volume of the delivered fleet decreased by 18 units, to 70. Also, 35 small vessels and boats with a tonnage of less than 50 tons were built, which is 2.6 times less than in 2021 (91 units). In civil shipbuilding, 55 ships were commissioned, which is 6 units less than in 2021. In the military and special shipbuilding, almost half as many ships and submarines were commissioned as in 2021 – 15 units.

Despite the lag in units, the total tonnage of large and medium-sized ships and vessels delivered increased by 55.2%, to 514 thousand tons, including in civil shipbuilding – by 80%, to 452 thousand tons.

53.2% of the delivered tonnage falls on the tanker fleet.

The number of delivered dry cargo ships of the RSD 59 project has sharply decreased: from 17 in 2020 and 16 in 2021 to 4 in 2022. As Mikhail Burmistrov, head of Infoline-Analytics, explains, this is due to problems with the supply of German Shottel rudder propellers. In general, the dry cargo fleet accounted for 9.2% of the total displacement of ships delivered.

The growth in tanker tonnage is directly related to the commissioning of two Aframax tankers for Sovcomflot and Rosnefteflot by SSK Zvezda with a tonnage of 136.7 thousand tons each. This brought Zvezda to the first place in the rating of shipyards in terms of the total tonnage of delivered ships. But in terms of value, it took second place after the United Shipbuilding Corporation with a significant lag behind it (24 billion rubles against 161.6 billion rubles) or fourth after individual USC enterprises. The leader among them is Sevmash with a total value of delivered ships of 60 billion rubles, followed by Baltzavod with 42.2 billion rubles. and “Admiralty Shipyards” with 24.8 billion rubles. Among the holdings, the third place in terms of the cost of ships delivered after USC and Zvezda is occupied by Ak Bars with its shipyards, which handed over to customers two Ice3 ice-class pilot vessels, three anti-sabotage boats and one small missile ship. At the same time, a high degree of concentration of orders for large-capacity vessels at the Zvezda SSC, the construction of which is highly dependent on South Korean partners (equipment deliveries have been stopped since July 2022), along with a large-scale shortage of personnel, jeopardizes the implementation of the program for building a transport fleet to work on the NSR, notes Mr Burmistrov. The Zvezda SSK did not respond to Kommersant’s request.

USC Kommersant reported that they expect an increase in the number of delivered ships in 2023.

“In terms of tonnage, growth in comparison with 2022 is not expected, since its main share in civil shipbuilding is formed by nuclear icebreakers,” the corporation explains. passenger ships of the “river-sea” class.

They remind that USC has been under sanctions since 2014. Nevertheless, they say in the corporation, for many civil projects, such as fishing vessels, customers insisted on using foreign equipment and foreign projects. “A number of these projects were implemented, and some difficulties arose with the supply of equipment and the participation of foreign specialists in its installation,” the corporation explains. “Difficulties gradually increased until February 2022, and from February they took on a systemic character.”

USC, in response to sanctions, seeks and finds alternative suppliers, and also creates competence centers within the corporation’s perimeter that could manufacture components themselves instead of those not supplied by Western companies. “For example, in the fall, the Vega plant in Borovsk, owned by the Zvyozdochka TsS (part of USC), began producing rudder propellers for dry cargo ships RSD 59,” they say in USC. “Also, work is underway on new projects that use only domestic components or supplies from friendly countries. In the new icebreaker of project 21900M2, which was laid down in Vyborg, out of 250 positions with imported equipment, all 250 were closed.

In 2023, INFOLine predicts the delivery of no more than 60-70 civilian ships with a displacement of more than 50 tons, says Mikhail Burmistrov.

In 2022, the shipbuilding industry, under sanctions, faced the need to redesign ships to replace the ship’s component equipment (SKO) with domestic or imported from friendly countries, an increase in the cost of ships under construction and postponement of construction. In 2023, ships will be handed over to customers for which key equipment from unfriendly countries was delivered before the spring of 2022. The year 2024 will be the most difficult in terms of handing over ships to customers, Mr. Burmistrov believes. In his opinion, in 2025–2027, an increase in the number and displacement of commissioned civilian ships is expected, including in connection with the postponement of delivery from 2023–2024 due to the redesign and replacement of the key SKO.

Natalya Skorlygina