Russia: ASPO Launches Two Tugs Built for OMS Shipping

Astrakhan Shipbuilding Production Association (ASPO) floated out yesterday the first two tug boats in Astrakhan. The vessels were ordered by OMS SHIPPING in the framework of Eurasian Development Bank’s (EDB) project to set up a fleet for the support of marine operations in the Caspian Sea.

Marat Jaukenov and Kanat Dosmukametov, Deputy Chairmen of the EDB Management Board, took part in the opening ceremony. The ASPA will manufacture a total of five such vessels.

In 2008 EDB signed a US $35.6 million loan facility agreement with OMS SHIPPING (Kazakhstan) for ten years. The company planned to purchase sixteen ancillary and special vessels to deliver stones for artificial islands built in Kazakhstan’s sector of the Caspian Sea.

This project, therefore, was part of a programme to provide the necessary infrastructure in order to intensify the development of large hydrocarbon fields in the Caspian shelf. Eleven ships are already providing sea transportation services.

This innovative project contributes to the sustainable economic growth of Kazakhstan by providing the necessary services and infrastructure for the advancement of oil production in the Caspian Sea and by developing the country’s sea freight shipping operations.

Its integration effect is in that, in addition to five tug boats constructed by the ASPA, eight special vessels for the transportation of stones (non-self-propelled flat top and spud barges) were made in Russia — by the Neva Shipbuilding and Ship Repair Plant in Leningrad Region and the Lotos Shipbuilding Plant in Astrakhan.

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EDB, March 29, 2013