Russian Fishing Company's (RFC) CEO Konstantin Globenko stated that further fishing fleet renewal in the Russian Far East cannot be isolated from the development of the entire associated ecosystem — ship repairing, logistics, ports, transportation fleet, and service skills — at the plenary session “Russian Far East as Sea Gateway: New Transportation Framework, Industrial Growth, and Global Routes” at the Maritime Congress — Russian Far East 2026.
According to him, the Russian Far East traditionally remains the country’s main eastern sea gateway and regional development, industrial growth, logistics chain expansion, fishing fleet renewal, and import substitution are directly connected with strengthening the country’s fishing and fish-processing industry.
Today, RFC is a leader in renewing the Russian fishing fleet and the customer for serial construction of state-of-art ST-192 project super trawlers. In 2026, new vessels have already accounted for over 50% of the company’s fleet. The renewal program is to be completed in 2027.
"For RFC, development is associated not only with building new vessels. The new fleet generates new demand for ship repairing, service, components, engineering skills, digital solutions ashore, modern transportation for product delivery, ports, and refrigeration infrastructure. If the associated infrastructure lags behind, the industry inevitably loses some advantages of the fleet renewal",
Fleet as Industry Driver
The new ST-192 project vessels set a new industry standard in terms of performance, fish processing, and automation. According to the company’s estimates, each new vessel is approximately 2.5 times more efficient than the previous-generation vessels, which still prevail in the fishing fleet.
"The fleet renewal is not a local project of one company. It is a signal to the entire industry and related economy segments. Modern fishing vessels require a different service level, different logistics, and different speed of decision-making on shore",
Ship Repair: Matter of Technological Self-Sufficiency
In the presentation, special attention was paid to the situation in ship repair in the Russian Far East. Today, major repair facilities are located near several historical ship repairing enterprises, mainly in the Primorsky Krai, and some work is performed by small specialized contractors.
At the same time, the shortage of state-of-art technology, equipment, and available service solutions forces shipowners to turn to repairing enterprises in China and South Korea, where it is easier to ensure timing, supply, and cost control. At the same time, RFC continues to support Russian skills: the company repairs a part of its fleet in Vladivostok as a matter of principle, and in some cases engages Russian specialists even when it orders works at foreign shipyards.
"It is not about people: the Russian specialists are very high-skilled. The issue is availability of technology, state-of-art equipment, and regular support for this segment. Without real steps to develop ship repairing, dependence on foreign markets will only increase",
Logistics and Reefer Fleet
Konstantin Globenko identified logistics and the situation in the port infrastructure as other important restrictions of the industry growth. As the fishing fleet is upgraded, requirements to transportation for product delivery, deep-water berths, cargo clearance speed, and refrigeration capacity increase.
The domestic refrigerated fleet is now largely worn out and the existing vessels do not match the performance of new trawlers, which complicates the supply of fish products. At the same time, projects to build new transportation vessels are constrained by high costs at Russian shipyards and expensive financing.
"The lack of a modern reefer fleet is no longer a specific problem of companies, but a systemic constraint for the entire supply chain. If the fleet is renewed faster than transportation and ports develop, the country loses the economic effect",
Four Development Area Synchronization
According to RFC's head, sustainable industry growth requires synchronous development of four areas: fishing fleet, transportation and port infrastructure, human resources, and ship repair facilities. The current competitiveness of the modern fishing fleet is determined not only by tonnage and catch volume, but also by the level of automation, the quality of data control, and the depth of digital integration.
RFC is ready to continue investing in fleet and industry development. However, it requires conditions for implementing these projects in the country: affordable financing, competitive conditions at Russian shipyards, and real support for domestic ship repair facilities.
"The industry demands not an issue discussion, but practical solutions. Only if business and government efforts are synchronized, the Russian Far East can fulfil its potential to the full extent as the country's key sea gateway",
