The shipbuilding activities of each maritime power are necessary, and therefore the construction of ships almost never ceases. Any activity at sea has always been considered very profitable, and so it is now. In world practice, the construction of ships provides for the transport of goods, and the cost of freight within the oceans is up to two hundred and fifty billion dollars annually. Only seafood and fish is produced annually at a cost of up to forty billion dollars. The construction of ships is also necessary for the extraction of gas and oil on offshore shelves, which is also estimated at up to one hundred billion dollars a year. The global market for shipbuilding products operates with amounts from seventy to eighty billion dollars a year.
Country Security
But the most important thing now is the construction of ships to ensure vigorous activity on the seas, transport and economic security of the state, especially if there are separate enclaves. This is how geopolitical tasks are solved, additional jobs appear, and population employment increases. All these reasons at the same time - this is the explanation for the fact that all the leading world powers are constantly developing the national shipbuilding industry, thereby increasing the number of major suppliers of technical equipment for marine activities.
The Russian shipbuilding industry, for example, has accumulated vast experience in the creation of ships and ships of all types and for all purposes. The construction of ships is carried out by many shipbuilding enterprises in the Russian Federation, and for this the country does not need to look for partners abroad. We have an excellent metallurgical industry that provides shipbuilding with unique non-magnetic high-strength steels and alloys. All world-class construction materials can be produced directly in our country.
Shipbuilding Veteran
In 1719, the largest hydraulic structure in Europe was built - the Staroladozh Canal, which immediately assumed a huge cargo flow. The ships required repairs and maintenance. But only in 1913 the Nevsky Shipyard opened, one of the flagships of domestic shipbuilding. There were built more than three hundred ships of various purposes only in the first years - and passenger, and tugboats, and ships of the river-sea class. Nevsky Shipyard quickly mastered new technologies, increased production capacity, engaged not only in shipbuilding, but also in traditional ship repair.
Since 2009, it has consistently been fully loaded with shipbuilding orders from various Russian companies. All types of turnkey ships are being built here, but ship repair is also closely involved: navigation, current, medium repairs, as well as modernization and refitting of ships. The shipbuilding plant is conveniently located: a large waterway - the Volga-Baltic Canal - allows you to transport already completed orders both by internal routes and to the international sea port of St. Petersburg.
Factory today
At the Nevsky Shipyard, work is performed with high quality, reliable and timely. This is ensured by the most modern equipment, modernized production and, of course, the professionalism of the company's specialists and their exceptional skill. The Nevsky Shipyard is certified by leading classification societies: Germanischer Lloyd, Det Norske Veritas, Bureau Veritas, Lloyd's Register of Shipping, as well as the Russian River Register and the Russian Maritime Register of Shipping.
Now this enterprise is modern and dynamically developing, they are able to solve the most complex technological and technical problems in order to produce products that are in demand by consumers, which meets international standards. The company works with both domestic and foreign customers.
Sredne-Nevsky Plant
Nearby in 1912 the Ust-Izhora shipyard was founded, which later became the Sredne-Nevsky Shipyard, one of the main suppliers leading the construction of ships for the Navy. The plant has a long and glorious history. However, it is even more interesting to observe his work today.
In the 2000s a complete modernization of production was carried out, since the plant was included in the target program for the development of the country's defense industry. Key industrial facilities, a bench base of research institutes and design bureaus where ship design was carried out were re-equipped. New machines and equipment, equipment, all software products were purchased.
New time
Already in 2003, construction began on a series of three-tier superstructures for corvettes, and in 2008 the Ataman multi-purpose vessel and the Lukoil floating fueling station were launched. In 2011, they set a world record in technology by forming a monolithic ship hull made of fiberglass sixty-two meters long. In the same year, construction began on a series of base minesweepers for the Navy.
In 2013, the construction of carbon fiber ships was mastered, and work on the creation of a series of raid minesweepers and tugs began at the ship ’s construction site. In subsequent years, many high awards have been received for their contribution to the country's defense. Composite construction of this plant has no equal in Russia. In 2016, the new generation lead ship, “Alexander Obukhov”, was handed over to the Navy of the Russian Federation, “Alexander Obukhov”, and in 2017 two more were laid down, “Vladimir Emelyanov” and “Ivan Antonov”, and a new one was handed over to the customer ready minesweeper.
Shipyard "Vympel"
It all started in 1930 with the construction of motor boats in Rybinsk, Yaroslavl region. During the war, the Vympel shipyard was rebuilt to produce boats with weapons - long-range torpedo boats. In the post-war period, raid minesweepers were produced and at the same time a ship assembly workshop was built, which exceeded all available facilities in area. From 1949 to this day, fire boats have been built here. In the 60s. The production of marine hydrographic bots began and towing motor ships marched in huge series.
And a little earlier, the Navy began to execute orders and continues to this day to build missile boats (with cruise missiles), which proved to be excellent in military conflicts in the Indian Ocean and the Middle East. Thanks to this success, the boat boom has begun in the world. In 1980, the Molniya lead missile boat was commissioned, which has still not left the level of world standards, surpassing all foreign standards in terms of power installation and driving performance. The plant is actively trading with the whole world: twenty-nine countries are buying its boats.
Problems
Today, the entry into the world market of domestic shipbuilding is associated with a number of problems. This production area is very specific, requiring the presence of a huge number of related industries - engineering, metallurgy, electronics and much more. Shipbuilding naturally stimulates their development, thanks to such orders related industries reach an ever higher scientific and technical level. One job in shipbuilding entails the creation of four or five jobs in other industries.
But the problem is the huge science-intensiveness of any modern ships and ships, as well as the long cycles of project development and construction itself, respectively, the capital intensity is also high. And the industry in the country after Perestroika has come to such a low level that most of the equipment has to be bought abroad. Domestic shipbuilding requires much more state support and the development of related industries.
Post-Soviet Industry Situation
Three-quarters of Russia's borders are maritime. More than 60% of the cargo turnover is carried out by sea vessels, mining of mineral resources on our sea shelf is actively developing. That is why the state should support its own shipbuilding. But the situation is different. The Russian fishing and merchant fleet found themselves on the verge of absolute extinction, despite the fact that this situation causes enormous damage from the economic side, and most importantly, national security is under attack.
Everything suggests that Russia has ceased to be a leading maritime power. The domestic fleet practically does not participate in the transportation of foreign trade cargoes (2001 - 4% of foreign trade cargoes passing through Russian ports, and in 1980 there were more than 65%). And this is more than three billion dollars a year lost. Civil aviation also left this market - domestic planes do not fly abroad, and this is another billion dollars of damage. And the fleet follows the same path: it decreases both in tonnage and in quantity from year to year, disappears inexorably and steadily.
Ship building
Vessels flying the Russian flag are twenty years old, and no country in the world has such old ships. And the volume of construction of civil courts in Russia does not provide for the replacement of losses. In Soviet times, forty or more marine vessels were built per year. And in 2001, six of them were built. And it took at least three hundred to master the required load capacity. These negative trends need to be reversed, at an accelerated pace, establishing the replenishment of the merchant fleet with the most modern vessels. Now every ship is expensive at the shipyard, but no economically favorable conditions for mass construction have yet been created.
However, the situation with the fishing fleet is even worse. The fishing industry sharply reduced the number of vessels, and therefore the annual volume of fish catch was reduced to terrifying numbers. If in 1989 the country produced more than eleven million tons of fish and seafood, in 2000 only three million tons. Further, this amount has repeatedly decreased. Almost all fishing vessels have exceeded their service life and require replacement, however, the fleet is replenished very weakly, almost nothing. In Soviet times, more than a hundred fishing vessels were launched annually; now they are being built less than ten a year - five or six.
Situation today
In the past few years, certain steps have been taken to correct the disaster. Not all problems have been resolved, but some encouraging figures and facts can already be cited. Today, there are one hundred and seventy enterprises operating in the Russian shipbuilding industry in the following specialties: ship repair and shipbuilding - 65, electrical engineering for marine engineering - 43, marine instrument making - 56, plus 6 related businesses. Today, the industry can already build ships and vessels of absolutely all types with a maximum displacement of one hundred thousand tons.
The industry employs more than two hundred thousand people. This suggests that the situation is gradually stabilizing. 56 research institutes and design organizations that specialize in all types of design work work for domestic shipbuilding. These are shipbuilding and shipbuilding, marine instrumentation, marine engineering and electronics. Many research institutes received state status.
Defense
The growth rate of production of the military-industrial complex is growing, including in the construction of military ships, in contrast to civilian shipbuilding. However, more recently, the level of military shipbuilding, like the technological one, has fallen so low that almost irreversible processes have begun. Today, positive changes can be observed firsthand and hope that in the future, domestic shipbuilding will expand, and the industry will continue its reform.
Historically, there was a certain disunity of designers and builders. And the reform of the industry should first of all exclude such cases by creating integrated structures. The industry's products are extremely complex engineering structures of our time, and here you need to build immediately “clean”, bypassing all kinds of prototypes. Therefore, well-coordinated work is needed, and preliminary conceptual development and accurate formation of the technical appearance of ships and ships are necessary. The country's defense capability depends on this.
Central Research Institute named after Academician A.N. Krylova
This research institute could well again become the "forward looking" industry, as it was before Perestroika, that is, the leading scientific center. Initially, it is the focus of scientific development and all conceivable experimental means regarding shipbuilding areas.
Ship hydrodynamics (controllability, speed, etc.), all types of propulsors, structural mechanics, electric power and energy, including atomic, radiation and nuclear safety, the acoustics of ships, mechanisms, equipment, electrodynamics, stealth technologies, and much more are practiced here much more. This is a unique and the only institution in Russia that accompanied the design, construction and delivery of ships and ships of all types and purposes. First of all, the activities of the institute are necessary for the Navy.