irregular depths where bottom trawling is 

 unsafe.-'* They are designed for onboard 

 processing, with sophisticated, ecologically- 

 clean equipment, including fillet-making 

 machines capable of processing 25 metric tons 

 of fish per day. They are also equipped with 

 modern radar, navigation, and communication 

 systems. The vessels were financed by the 

 Japanese firm, Nichimo Co., Ltd. of Tokyo, 

 under a contract which obligates the Russian 

 owners to deliver the processed catch to 

 Nichimo.'" 



Russian fishermen will learn longlining 

 aboard a Norwegian training vessel which is 

 due to be built. This project is part of a joint 

 venture between six Norwegian companies 

 and the SEVRYBA.^'' 



In mid-1992, the KIMEK A/S Shipyard in 

 Norway signed a contract to build and equip 

 100 coastal fishing vessels for Russia. The 

 contract is part of an effort to restructure the 

 Russian fleet so that coastal, rather than high- 

 seas, fisheries will be emphasized. The 

 vessels will vary in size from 40-60 meters 

 long and are expected to be completed in 4-5 

 years. ^' No further information on this 

 contract is available. 



In 1989, the former Soviet Ministry of 

 Fisheries contracted 20 large stern factory 

 trawlers (NEVELSK class, 64 meters long, 

 1,899 CRT) from the STERKODER Shipyard 

 of Norway for deployment in the Russian Far 

 East. Reportedly, the first 16 vessels were 

 delivered to the former USSR, but the last 

 four were repossessed by a Norwegian bank 

 because the Russians were unable to pay for 

 them. One of these four vessels was bought 

 by the company of a Norwegian businessman, 

 Arne LARSSON, and leased to a Kamchatka 

 import-export company, KAMCHATIMPEX, 



to fish in the North Pacific under Russian 

 flag, captain, and crew.^- 



Despite news reports that a series of 16 

 NEVELSK class vessels were delivered to the 

 USSR/Russia, NMFS could confirm that 

 currently only 9 of these vessels are 

 registered in Russia." Another 4 NEVELSK 

 class trawlers, the Amaltal Columbia, Mys 

 Vindis, Petr Iljin, and Sterkoder, have been 

 reflagged: the Amaltal Columbia now flies a 

 New Zealand flag, the other 3 operate under 

 the Cypriot flag.^* ONI's list of the Cyprus 

 fishing fleet includes 8 NEVELSK class units; 

 3 are the reflagged vessels mentioned above. 

 The names of the others are: Admiral 

 Zavoika, Aleksei Chirikov, Bukhta Naezdnik, 

 Novik, and Vilyuchinskyi. This accounts for 

 18 of the 20 NEVELSK-class vessels ordered 

 from Norway. 



Poland: In 1988, a Gdansk shipyard 

 completed a series of 6 large trawlers of the 

 IVAN BOCHKOV class for the Soviet 

 Northern Fisheries Administration 

 (SEVRYBA) fleets, including the Sovetskaia 

 Konstitutsia, Zavolzhsk, and the Revolutsiya 

 which joined the Arkangelsk fleet. ^^ Russia 

 currently owns 33 of these vessels which were 

 constructed between 1979 and 1988.^* Polish 

 shipyards also built many other classes of 

 fishing vessels purchased by the USSR for a 

 total tonnage of 1.1 million gross tons 

 (appendix 8). 



Spain: Since 1989, the former USSR/Russia 

 has ordered 25 vessels, 15 large stern factory 

 trawlers and 10 tuna purse seiners, from 

 Spanish shipyards." 



The former Soviet Ministry of Fisheries 

 ordered 15 stern factory trawlers of the 

 SOTRUDNICHESTVO class (7,805 CRT, 

 105 meters long) through the Bergen 



105 



