State Caspian Sea Shipping News

Russian Maritime Register of Shipping (RS) has signed a contract with Baku Shipyard LLC for the construction of three 38М high speed crewboats (designer - SHIPTECH, Singapore) for Azerbaijan State Caspian Sea Shipping Company. Construction is set to begin in August 2014 and the boats are expected to be delivered to the customer by May 2016. Upon completion of construction, the boats will be assigned the RS class notation: KM HSC crewboat. The vessels are designed to transport personnel (up to 80 people) and various types of cargo to mobile offshore drilling units (MODU) and other offshore oil and gas exploration and extraction facilities. According to their specifications, they can operate at up to 100 miles from the coast. •Crew: eight people.

President Ilham Aliyev reportedly participated in the opening ceremony for the newly built ship repair and shipbuilding production unit of the State Caspian Sea Shipping, News AZ reports. Chief of the Azerbaijani State Caspian Sea Shipping, Aydin Bashirov, briefed the head of state on the conditions and production process at the new venture, detailing its technology and equipment. Aliyev then visited the six separate workshops of the production unit, constructed across 2.2 hectares. Construction of the production unit began in 2011 and finished in 2012. (Source: News AZ)