Russian President Vladimir Putin has visited the site of a new shipyard aimed at bolstering its cargo ship fleet.
He arrived in the city of Vladivostok on Wednesday, where he was taken by boat to the site near Russky Island, Ria Novosti reported.
Putin was accompanied by deputy prime minister Denis Manturov, VTB bank president Andrei Kostin, governor of Primorsky territory Oleg Kozhemyako and the general manager of state-owned United Shipbuilding Co (USC), Andrei Puchkov.
The plant will build 12 ships per year, but no time scale has been revealed.
New vessels will include bulkers, tankers, container ships and gas carriers.
USC has been sanctioned by the US over its role in building ships allegedly used in the war.
Russia has suffered cancellations of LNG carrier orders at South Korean shipyards due to its war in Ukraine.
Last year, it was reported that a new shipyard could be built at Severodvinsk for ice-classed vessels.
The government sees the need for at least one more shipyard on a scale comparable to its new Zvezda plant in the east of the country.
The country has decommissioned 580 vessels in the last two decades, while only building 224.
Ships are needed to further Putin’s ambition of developing the Northern Sea Route through the Arctic.
The Barents Observer reported that the plan is to move 80m tonnes of cargo along the route this year, later increasing this to 220m tonnes by 2035.
Russian shipyards have little space to build cargo ships, as military shipbuilding is a priority.
