Sergey Pylin, General Director of FSUE “Rosmorport”, visited Astrakhan to inspect and value the ongoing work on the development of the Volga-Caspian Sea Shipping Canal (VCSSC).

During his working visit, Head of the enterprise held a production meeting with the captains of dredging and auxiliary vessels involved in repair dredging operations in the canal water area. Sergey Pylin laid emphasis on the necessity to implement the dredging plan for 2023 in order to ensure the passage of vessels with a draft of at least 4.5 m, indicated in the instructions of President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, with the preservation of certain sections of one-way traffic of vessels by the end of the year.

As part of the visit, General Director of FSUE “Rosmorport” also explored how the construction of a dredger upon order of the enterprise, that had started at the Russian shipyard in September 2022, was going on. The Nikolay Rusanov vessel will be the ninth dredger in the dredging fleet of the FSUE “Rosmorport” Astrakhan Branch and will be used to maintain the specified depths in the marine part of the VCSSC, in the water areas and on approaches to the seaports. The dredger is expected to start operating in the winter of 2024.

Maintaining the necessary depths of inland waterways is extremely important to ensure the safety of navigation and increase cargo transportation by sea. Thus, in the spring of this year, FSUE “Rosmorport” began repair dredging on the Volga-Caspian Sea Shipping Canal. Currently, work at the limiting sections of the canal is carried out by 12 dredging vessels, 6 of which belong to the Astrakhan Branch of the enterprise on the basis of economic control rights.