St. Petersburg: Powerplant designer and manufacturer Wärtsilä has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC), Russia's leading shipbuilder, to cooperate on developing ship designs and on the manufacture of propulsion systems.
The long-term strategic partnership aims to "combine the joint expertise of both companies to meet customers' challenging requirements for modern and efficient vessels," said a news statement. Sudoexport, the domestic agency handling business development deals with foreign partners, agreed the deal on USC's behalf.
USC is the state-owned company set up in 2007 to integrate the major Russian shipbuilding and repair yards, as well as design bureaus, that together account for more than 70% of all Russian shipbuilding facilities. It is registered in St. Petersburg with the Nevskoye Design Bureau as an anchor company.
The Russian company already enjoys a jv with Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering to set up a new $1.5bn shipyard in the Primorye region in the Russian Far East. The yard, scheduled for completion next year, is intended for the building of gas tankers, ice-class vessels drilling ships and floating LNG plants.
Last November USC inked another MOU with Yantai Raffles to set up a separate $100m yard in Vladivostok, again targeting the supply of vessels to the oil and gas sector in the Russian Far East.
Wärtsilä opened its first representative office in Russia in 1979. Today, Wärtsilä Vostok LLC employs more than 130 people in its St. Petersburg head office and its branch offices in Moscow, Vladivostok and Murmansk. [03/11/10]
Copyright © 2024. All rights reserved. Seatrade, a trading name of Informa Markets (UK) Limited. Add Seatrade Maritime News to your Google News feed.
