October 18, 2016, 08:02 / Business

Putin approved the construction of two Arctic vessels for seismic exploration for 15 billion rubles

President Vladimir Putin put the resolution “I agree” on a letter from Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Khloponin, who oversees mining, which proposes commissioning at least two Arctic-class seismic exploration vessels by 2019. The Deputy Prime Minister estimated their cost at approximately 15 billion rubles, RBC reports . To finance the project, Khloponin proposed redistributing funds from the program “Reproduction of the mineral resource base” for 2017–2019.

“Under the current conditions of the sanctions regime, the Russian Federation as a whole is able to provide itself with the full scope of seismic work in 2D format using the existing fleet and equipment until 2018,” the publication cites a fragment of the letter that was sent to the president on July 12. Khloponin notes that a “more critical” situation has developed in the 3D seismic segment. Available capacities cover no more than 20% of market volumes, the average age of ships is 28 years, and the wear and tear of the scientific fleet exceeds 80%. Putin signed the letter the next day.