Russian merchant fleet needs new vessels

Programs assessing the Russian fleet's demand for new vessels need updating, Russian Industry and Energy Minister Viktor Khristenko said after the session of the Marine Board in Arkhangelsk.

In his words, the demands of the Russian fleet until 2010 were assessed in the federal target programs "The modernization of Russian transport system" and "Ecology and natural resources of Russia (2000-2010)".

"The programs were drafted in 2000 and need upgrading in new conditions," the minister said adding that the existing documents fix rather serious figures related to private demands.

The annual volume of the market of transport services of the sea and river transport totals over 300 million metric tons of cargo, Mr. Khristenko reported. "About 415 million metric tons are forecasted for 2005 and 540 million for 2010. It makes some 8% of the world carriage market," he noted.

According to Mr. Khristenko, the growth of cargo turnover has been ensured by the authorities, which did their best to boost cargo carriages on the sea routes.

Only 5% of these cargoes are transported by Russian vessels, Viktor Khristenko said. "The Russian fleet accounted for over 65% of them 15 years ago," he added.