Soviets order ‘supertrawlers’

Press, 10 February 1986, Page 20

Soviets order ‘supertrawlers’

By

RALPH BOULTON

NZPA-Reuter Stralsund, East Germany Stralsund’s Baltic shipyard, builder of more than a third of the Soviet Union’s global fishing fleet, is set to spread Moscow’s nets further this year with a new deep-sea "supertrawler.” The East German yard was founded less than 40 years ago by order of the Soviet military authorities to deliver ships as reparations for World War 11. Moscow remains almost the only client. Today Stralsund can boast the world’s only large-scale assembly production of trawlers which now ply waters from the Pacific to the frozen Arctic.

Western economic ex-

perts regard the shipyard as one of East Germany’s economic successes.

The yard’s development manager, Mr Werner Giese, said the new Atlan-tik-488 supertrawler could fish to a depth of 2000 metres, then process and freeze or tin the catch. The first test ship is on final trials before delivery to Moscow.

Officials say the keel for the first serial production model will be laid in October at Stralsund’s huge indoor yard. More than 30 vessels are scheduled for construction by 1990.

The 120-metre trawler can work for up to 100 days without supplies, 30 days longer than its predecessor. It will be a boon to a Soviet fishing

fleet working far from home shores.

Moscow, owner of the world’s biggest deep-sea fishing fleet, now provides a sure market for Stralsund, shielding it from the economic storms lashing many Western shipyards. Ships are “made to order” by the yard in consultation with Soviet experts.

But Mr Giese emphasised: “We decide where to sell, and Moscow doesn’t dictate to us. If a customer can order tens of ships at a time, why should we look elsewhere?”

“Elsewhere” refers to the fertile fishing grounds of Western markets where payment for vessels comes in precious hard currency, not Soviet rouble credits.

Western currency deals are rare in East Germany, with only occasional sales to Africa or Europe. Last year Stralsund delivered its entire record production of 36 trawlers to the Soviet Union, and projections for 1986 see a similar result. Most of the vessels sold to Moscow last year were the new Atlantik-333, a 20m freezer trawler built since 1982 to help Moscow cope with new international fishing restrictions.

“More and more countries have extended their territorial waters to 200 miles, restricting coastal catches,” Mr Giese said. “This means the Soviet Union. has a great need for smaller trawlers to

complement its fleet of big factory ships.”

But while the Stralsund yard’s order books are dominated by Moscow, East Germany’s three other main shipbuilding yards are having to compete on the world market. The Rostock Neptune Yard, two hours drive westward along the Baltic coast, has sold mediumsize cargo ships to countries ranging from Cyprus to Singapore, and France to Indonesia.

The wamow yard in Warnemuende is a leading builder of cargo ships in the 10,000 to 20,000 ton range, while the Mathias Thesen yard in Wismar produces passenger ships and roll-on vessels. Both are looking westward for orders.

East German officials have consistently denied charges from the West that east European shipyards are “dumping” vessels on the world market by undercutting rivals with State subsidies.

East German shipbuilding is small when set against world standards, and there are no signs the new five year plan ending in 1990 will bring any big expansion. But East Germany is banking on this sector to draw in hard currency earnings.