Casablanca – Following the port embargo on its fishing vessels, Russia has opted to repair its fishing boats in Casablanca port instead of Las Palmas.
The head of the representative office of the Federal Agency for Fisheries in Morocco Mokhail Tarasov announced that Russia’s Federal Agency for Fishery is planning to open a new shipyard in Casablanca next year.
“In connection with the imminent opening of a new shipyard in the port of Casablanca, repairs for a group of Russian fishing vessels operating in the Central East Atlantic will also be carried out at Moroccan facilities,” he explained.
“We are talking about hundreds of millions of euros, which will be paid to local shipyards, as well as hundreds of jobs for Moroccans,” the Russian official added. “We hope to open a new shipyard in 2023.”
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Russian fishing boats have long been repaired in the port of Las Palmas. However, following the EU’s stance on the entry of Russian fishing vessels and the prohibition on their stay in Las Palmas, Russia decided to transfer its maintenance facility.
Russia is planning “to transfer the repair base to Casablanca, which will bring Russian-Moroccan cooperation in the field of fishing to a new level,” Tarasov said.
Given the Morocco-Russia partnership, the Russian official also discussed the possibility of Russian specialized companies’ involvement in the implementation of repair work in the port of Casablanca.
“The ship repair facilities in Casablanca can compete with the Canary Islands shipyards,” he noted.
Morocco is Russia’s primary African partner in fishing cooperation.
In 2020, the two countries signed a new four-year intergovernmental agreement on cooperation in marine fisheries, after the expiration of the earlier 2016 agreement.
The agreement also calls for the two sides to collaborate in the sphere of scientific fisheries research, including in the programming and organization of scientific research.
