The Engineer Popov self-propelled diesel-electric dredger with hydraulic baking powder has arrived at the seaport of Olya in the Astrakhan region. This dredger will soon increase the amount of vessels of the dredging fleet on the Volga-Caspian Sea Shipping Canal (VCSSC) under the management of FSUE “Rosmorport” up to 17 units.

The high-capacity dredging vessel belongs to the Federal State Institution “Administration of the Volga Basin of Inland Waterways”. After passing the port control the Engineer Popov dredger will go to the allotted section of the canal to maintain the required depths.

Currently, intensive dredging at the sites of the VCSSC in conditions of high canal shoaling and steady decline in the Caspian Sea level is carried out by 7 units of the FSUE “Rosmorport” dredging fleet and 9 vessels engaged by the enterprise.

Unprecedented dredging operations at the strategically important facility are carrying out around the clock under favorable weather conditions. FSUE “Rosmorport” implements comprehensive measures for the development of the VCSSC as part of the global task of ensuring the operation of the international North-South transport corridor according to the schedule. The enterprise plans to continue to increasing the number of vessels involved in the repair dredging on the canal in order to fulfill the task set by the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin to ensure the passage of vessels with a draft of at least 4.5 m to the VCSSC by the end of 2023.