The Ministry of Transport is preparing mitigating amendments to the draft law on the ban on the operation of dilapidated ships from 2030, Vedomosti reports, citing VARPE and a source in the publishing house in a shipping company.
Adjustments are being prepared following meetings in late January and early February. One of the proposals is to increase the age threshold after which a vessel is considered dilapidated from 40 to 50 years. River vessels will be completely removed from the ban: they will be able to operate indefinitely, Vedomosti claims. Old marine fishing vessels may also be allowed to operate.
It will no longer be possible to adopt the law in its original version: money for preferential leasing of civil vessels is running out — funding has been halved, construction plans have been reduced from 260 to 219 ships, the publication's source said. At the same time, no one guarantees that construction will not become more expensive, and the program will not be cut again.
At the same time, the Ministry of Transport is developing stricter safety requirements to reduce the risk of accidents on an aging fleet.
The development of the bill was initiated by the United Shipbuilding Corporation, which simultaneously asked to increase state support for shipowners so that they would have money to update the fleet.