September 27 2023

FESCO plans to resolve the issue of ship repair of its own fleet by purchasing a floating dock. Mr. Nikolai Chvertko, director of the FESCO Vladivostok branch, told about this during the 2nd conference “Ship repair, modernization, components”.

According to him, the company encountered the problem of repairing its own ships during the COVID-19 pandemic, when China introduced strict quarantine restrictions. The company had ship repair experience in other countries, including Guinea and Sri Lanka, which ultimately raised a number of questions about the quality and cost of the work performed. In addition, the introduction of sanctions against Russia complicates the possibilities of cooperation with a number of states and their enterprises.

As for the Far East, there is a shortage of ship repair facilities, especially for larger vessels.  

In this regard, the company decided to implement its own project to purchase a floating dock and deploy it at the production facilities of “FESCO Service” in the waters of the port of Vladivostok.

“We consulted with FEMRI Institute about the possibility of deploying a dock in selected water area. Experts assured us that this is possible. The bottom topography and depth in this area are such that there will be no need to resort to dredging,” said Mr. Chvertko.

He clarified that the company wants to acquire a dock with a lifting capacity of up to 25 000 tons, which will allow it to service the largest vessels in the FESCO fleet. These are “Fesco Dalnegorsk”, “Fesco Sofia” and “Fesco Diomede”. Such floating docks are available in China. In this case, we estimate the initial payback period of the project at ten years. FESCO plans to repair not only its own vessels, but also provide services to third parties.

At the moment, about 100 people work at “FESCO Service”. After acquiring the floating dock, it is planned to expand the staff, as well as purchase additional equipment in order to organize a full-fledged ship repair facility. In addition, the company expects to establish cooperation with local educational institutions.

The future dock will have the following characteristics: overall length – 236 m, overall width – 44.5 m, slipway length – 220 m, crane equipment – 2 pcs. 20 tons each, submerged draft max – 15 m.

Source: https://portnews.ru/news/354035/