EntranceFloating bases in the USSR, who went to them? The largest fish processing floating base Project 69 type floating base, professor of rams.
Help "RP"
The floating base "Soviet Primorye" type B-69, length 164 meters, width 21.3 meters, displacement 19,300 tons, built in Gdansk, Poland in 1971. In 2006 The floating base has undergone renovation and is 10 years younger. Currently, “Sovetskoye Primorye” is working as part of the Preobrazhenskaya BTF flotilla on the Okhotsk Sea pollock expedition.
Vasily Alexandrovich, how is the fishing going?
Every day our base receives up to 350 - 400 tons of pollock from registered vessels - STRov “Samotsvet”, “Sagaidak”, “Satino”, “Sorochinsk”, “Captain Vitaly Kononets”. After sampling quotas in the Kamchat-Kurilsky region, we moved to Western Kamchatka, where we continue to successfully develop quotas. In the future, we will move to the North Sea of Okhotsk region, then to the East Sakhalin region. And after their development, the mother ship will leave for its home port of Preobrazhenie, where it will arrive at the end of May.
Are you able to stick to your production plan?
- Thanks to the vast experience of the captains of mining vessels, the floating base is constantly provided with raw materials. Since the beginning of the pollock expedition, the intake amounted to 4,500 tons. We would have accepted more, but the stormy weather lets us down.
The floating base is equipped with ten fillets E-501, E-503, each of which allows the production of 20 tons of headless pollock per day. The freezing complex can produce up to 220 tons of frozen fish products. There is also a RMU that produces up to 20 tons of flour from pollock waste. Range of products: raw pollock, pollock caviar, pollock milt, fish meal. Since 2008, the floating base has mastered a new type of product – raw pollock without a tail fin “Nezhenka” in laminated containers. We try to comply with European standards, there are no rejections.
How is the crew set up?
There are currently 271 crew members. The crew is well selected, united, and highly professional. It includes the production manager, Honorary Fisheries Worker, who has government awards, V.G. Makovsky; head chem. laboratory, who worked on the floating base for 30 years, S.S. Morozov; Head of Food E.V. Shapovalnikova, senior masters – I.P. Lesnov, V.I. Bezhenar, craftsmen – F.I. Girya, L.Ya. Shandalova, boatswain A.V. Yakushev, sailors - SV. Zaitsev, V.N. Gordienko, chief mechanic N.I. Filchakov, 4th diesel mechanic A.K. Pelepyagin, 2nd diesel mechanic A.I. Lipovy, senior electrician A.V. Popov, 3rd electromechanic V.V. Gevelyuk, 3rd ref. mechanic I.I. Grief, motorists - Yu.A. Lukoyanov, N.A. Belykh, boiler operator A.G. Gul, Donkerman N.P. Chigrin, magician of turning - turner A.P. Shabalin, who performs the most complex turning work in sea conditions, machining sailors - S.T. Shevchenko, A.A. Shumeiko, I.M. Shatalina, N.S. Pichko, V.A. Guseva, M.A. Bragin, A.G. Burkov, D.M. Vokhrin and many others. It’s impossible to list them all!
On board the floating base there is everything necessary for crew members to have a good rest between shifts: the ship's library, a sports gym, and table tennis. The television station provides reception of three television channels, and there is also a ship's DVD channel. So the crew is constantly aware of events taking place in Russia and the world. Participants in the ship's amateur performances prepared a concert for the New Year holidays. Among the activists is S.A. Dmitrieva, I.I. Tsoi, A.A. Bykhalova, L.P. Orzhakhovskaya, M.Yu. Yudina and others. Afterwards there was a fun disco with competitions and prizes. We had a great time. Now we are preparing for February 23rd, March 8th.
As for work, the crew is determined to fully master the quotas, produce high-quality products and return to their home port with labor success. But most importantly, we hope to return home alive and healthy, so that we can have a good rest and go on our next flight.
Did you have to face any difficulties?
There are always difficulties at sea, and we overcome them on our own, or with the help of the PBTF leadership. The main problem is transporting people to sea. Nevertheless, requests for fuel, fuel oil, and supplies to the enterprise are completed on time. Like any fisherman, I cannot help but worry about the rising prices for fuels and lubricants, the lack of state support in matters of fleet renewal, state... subsidies for the fishing industry. There are so many regulatory bodies that it is impossible to list them all, but it would be advisable to leave 1-2 regulatory structures. It is necessary to stop seeing a fisherman as a poacher and a thief.
At the end of the conversation, Captain Vasily Menshikh, Honorary Fisheries Worker, also expressed his wishes to more actively cover the workdays of real, courageous, and most importantly, conscientious fishermen, talk more often about life at sea, and communicate with its workers. In turn, “RP” will do everything possible so that the reader sees himself on the pages of the industry newspaper.
The past no longer exists, but the future may not exist!
Japanese proverb
At the end of January 1994, the Avacha floating base, overcoming ice hummocks, was already approaching Kamchatka. The crew members rejoiced at the close meeting with their relatives, the opportunity to “show off” imported new clothes, and in some cases, a foreign car. We all naively believed that everything would work out and life would continue as usual. Naive people, however! Hyperinflation has been raging in the country for 2 years. When entering ports, the ship's administration paid the port authorities in cash, transporting them on a raid boat directly in bags. But so far everything was flowing according to the Fleet Charter, breakfast, lunch and dinner on schedule, a video film twice a day, a library - books were given out by the first mate and housekeeping work on the ship. To understand what happened to us at our home port, it is necessary to take an excursion into the history of the very origin of the Kamchatka Trawling and Refrigerated Fleet Administration.
The trawl fleet inevitably entered the anthology of the Soviet civilian fleet. This fish giant was formed in 1936 and in 2006 could have celebrated 70 years of existence, but... fate had its own way!
In 1967, the sea fishing port and transport fleet were removed from its structure.
In 1968, the UTRF was divided into 3 fleets: the Ocean Fisheries Base, the Kamchatrybkholodflot and, in fact, the UTRF.
In 1971, the oldest and yet largest fleet was awarded the Order of Lenin. It registered 79 ships and 6,329 people. Such famous captains as Gruzdev, Gimilshtein, Serga, Goncharov, Permyakov and many others worked in the fleet.
The heads of UTRF were Potapenko V.P., Yaroshevsky S.D., Chernigovsky.
At first, in the 50s and 60s, the fishing fleet was equipped with vessels of the SRT-300 type (horsepower), without freezing capacity, of an outdated model. There were sometimes collisions at sea. For example, the SRT "Klyuchevskoy" sailed to the Pribilof Islands in the 60s and disappeared without a trace along with its crew, the SRT "Karaga" died from icing off the coast of Kamchatka, also in the late 60s. This also happened among the Primorye residents - the SRT "Sevsk", "Sebezh", "Boksitogorsk" sank, and among the Sakhalin residents, the SRT "Nakhichevan" did not return from the voyage. Modernization and renewal of the fleet was required. In the 1980s, medium trawlers ST-1320 began to enter the trawl fleet, the first of which was Sadgora. SRT “Kazbek”, “Bykovsky”, “German Titov” were becoming a thing of the past...
The Order of Lenin is a high award earned by the selfless work of fishermen at sea. The management of the trawl fleet received stable and large quotas for catching raw materials from the authorities of the peninsula for its vessels.
Houses, stadiums, hospitals, houses of culture - everything was there! Happy Birthday to every fisherman at sea!
In the 80s, a new galaxy of captains appeared in the trawl fleet, many of whom the author had to work with. These are captains such as Shkirev, Korobkov, Chernavsky, Aleshin, Tsyganov and many others.
In 1993, Tralflot separated from the Kamchatrybprom p/o. All of its property (vessels, berths, refrigerators) was transferred to satellite companies. ST "Vaninsk" and ST "Skala" were the first to fall into the wrong hands. How did this happen?
OJSC UTRF was split into 8 enterprises: UTRF Financial Company, UTRF-Trading, UTRF-Service, UTRF-Kamchatka and others.
The subsidiary company "UTRF-Kamchatka" purchased 9 converted vessels at residual value from Tralflot. As a result, the Petropavlovsk Shipyard did not receive 50% of the money for this re-equipment. Therefore, the shipbuilders took the Vaninsk ship hostage, and it remained standing at the factory pier. Under the cover of darkness, the new owners stole the ship without paying the bills.
Kamchatka's fishing fleet was declining like shagreen leather.
If you trace the dynamics of the reduction of the trawl fleet, you will notice that, first of all, the B-69 mother ships and the B-67 floating plants became an unbearable load.
What was the "B-69" floating base of the "Avacha" or "New Kakhovka" type?
Displacement 19350 tons
Length - 164 m
Width - 21.3 m
Draft - 8.1 m
Crew numbering from 254 to 295 people, depending on the voyage (herring, pollock, willow, salmon, etc.)
These ships provided a full life cycle; the motherships could sail autonomously for up to 8 months, needing only replenishment of fuel and sometimes fresh water. Doctors, cooks, ship's store, ship's post office, library, food pantries, cinema booth. In addition, there is a video salon, a gym, a psychological relief room, 4 wardrooms, and a helipad. For sanitary and hygienic needs, a ship's water desalinator was in operation. The fish factory processed thousands of tons of raw fish per month.
However, like any mechanisms and vehicles, mother ships and fishing vessels required regular repairs and maintenance. In conditions of wildly growing inflation, there was a catastrophic shortage of money, fuel and water tankers, dry cargo ships became expensive, the approach of raid boats in ports, fees for berths during moorings, placement in a floating dock for repairs of the ship’s hull became even more expensive. The UTRF administration and Mr. Abramov personally made a hasty decision to get rid of these ships. This action occurred in the following order:
p/b "Novaya Kakhovka" (built in 1970) - sold to China for disposal in 1994.
p/b "Avacha" (built in 1971) - sold to China in 1995
p/b "North Pole" (built in 1969) - sold to China in 1999
p/b "Orochon" (built in 1971) - sold to China in 1998
p/b "Soviet Siberia" (built in 1973) - sold to China in 1997
The floating factories "Rybak Kamchatka" and "Fisherman Chukotka" were sold by the head of the UTRF Abramov A. Ya. to Primorye, also as not profitable.
All these sea giants were sold at residual value, which was sometimes 10 times lower than book value...
So, for example, according to the accounting certificate that came into my hands, the book value of the vessel PB "Orochon" as of August 10, 1998 was 39,962,237 rubles, and the residual value was 4,164,955 rubles.
This was all done to avoid creditors and salary debts. In August 2001, the governor of the Kamchatka Territory, Mikhail Mashkovtsev, told A.Ya. Abramov that while he was at the helm, there would be no free regional UTRF quotas. And Abramov “gave up” his chair to a man from the outside - Mr. Mardelfeld Evgeniy Borisovich. Evil tongues said that this was the “hand of Moscow”...
The newcomer firmly stated to the collective of shareholders that he knew how to bring the remaining fleet out of the crisis. However, after a year and a half, the last floating bases “Komsomolsk-on-Amur” and “Sovetskaya Buryatia” went abroad to China and India, respectively.
OJSC UTRF-Holding had the opportunity to pay all its employees 30 million rubles in wages when selling the property, but did not do so. The prosecutor's office of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky dealt with a scandalous issue, because 2 floating bases and 9 fishing vessels instead of 144.5 million rubles. were sold for 30 million rubles. E.B. Mardelfeld was summoned to the prosecutor's office to testify.
Of course, in the course of these structural transformations, it became clear to many ordinary sea workers: a narrow circle of people would become fabulously rich over time, and the staff of one of the oldest enterprises in the region with a legendary history would be left with nothing.
But all this happened later. What was the situation that developed in 1994 in the country, the economy, and in the international arena?
On January 11, the first meeting of the State Duma of the first convocation took place. This was preceded by the shooting of parliament in the White House and the dispersal of the Supreme Council in October 1993.
In Ukraine, Leonid Kuchma defeated Leonid Kravchuk and became president.
In Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko won the elections against Stanislav Shushkevich.
In the summer of 1994, the deadline for privatization “according to Chubais,” which began in 1992, expired. I remember when the crew members of the Avacha ship went ashore and headed to the Main Post Office to receive privatization checks, I also received this voucher against signature and the first thing that struck me was that it didn’t have my details on it! But the issued voucher contains my share of the national heritage for 20 years of impeccable work for the benefit of the Motherland!
I address this question to the clerk sitting at the counter:
Please tell me, who will put my name on this privatization check?
The official looked at me wildly, as if a visitor had fallen from the moon, and said:
Everything is written there in Russian, and your name is on my list. Sign that you received the voucher!
The rest of my colleagues did not have such a question; they did not understand anything about the ongoing macroeconomic processes...
Privatization set the task for each citizen to receive his share of public property from the state. The organizers, led by Chubais, assured that the price of the voucher would rise to the price of the car. Before Chubais, the chairman of the State Property Committee was the first deputy chairman of the Council of Ministers of Russia, Mikhail Dmitrievich Malei, who insisted that privatization bank accounts be opened instead of checks. The entire population of Russia was to receive 2,200 billion rubles, and each citizen was to receive 14 thousand conventional balance rubles. The main idea is to provide citizens with a personal check, the purchasing power of which is not subject to inflation and only increases as the market value of privatized state property is revealed. Then each citizen, at the market exchange rate of the ruble in 1993, would have (according to calculations) about 3 million rubles when selling their shares at par on the stock exchange. After all, people would buy shares of enterprises with their own checks!
But M.D. Maley was removed from his post (Maley died in 1996). And since 1992, the State Property Committee was run by A.B. Chubais. He already relied on the experience of foreign consultants and advisors. Instead of a securities market, a market for “paper vouchers” was created. Clever businessmen bought them from villagers, for example, for sugar, butter, flour.
The same holders of vouchers that were more intellectually cut invested them in CHIFs - check investment funds. But since the overwhelming majority of enterprises at that time were not profitable and fraud on the part of financial tycoons flourished, only the directors and heads of financial campaigns won. Almost all investment funds were subsequently ordered to “live for a long time.”
Ordinary people aptly called this campaign “privatization.” It caused enormous damage to the country's economy and the material component of millions of Russians.
But let us finally return to the floating base "Avacha", which, noisily breaking the ice crust of the bay, entered Avacha Bay. The commands of the watch officer Platonov sounded loudly on the upper deck. The sailors, led by boatswain Kudrov, were preparing the mooring lines on the starboard side. But our ship was moored stern-wise at the pier of the Mokhovsky fish processing plant. Typically, 30 meters from the front ramp, more than a dozen sea lions were lying on the gently sloping bank. The rest, about 3-4 individuals, “dried their fins” in the water. In their native element, the sea lions felt much more confident and agile. Old-timers said that for many years, as long as there was a fish processing plant and there was waste of fish and liver from the fish factory in this place, generation after generation of these mammals came here for free food.
When Galina, Gray, and I went down the ladder, the path, trodden in the snow, led straight past these large and clumsy, at first glance, animals.
Male sea lions reach weights from 500 kg to a ton, and females weigh on average 350 kg.
Roma, take a photo of them, they are such an exotic company! - Galya asks.
Yes, so exotic that you can barely keep Gray on a leash! Be careful not to let the dog go, then trouble will be inevitable! - I warn my wife.
Gray actually raised his ears, raised his fur and growled, showing his fangs in the direction of a real, not imaginary, enemy.
I take my Polaroid out of the briefcase, come closer to choose an angle, and suddenly I see a hefty cleaver separating himself from a group of carefree couch potatoes. He, powerfully pushing off with his flippers, crawls towards me, emitting hoarse roars, like the famous African predators. It is not for nothing that these representatives of the seal order were called “sea lions.”
Roma, be careful, he's getting closer! - Galina became worried, barely holding the rushing dog.
I quickly take a couple of pictures and retreat without pushing my luck.
The leader of the herd immediately calms down and crawls back. It stands out not only for its size, but also for the numerous scars on the surface of its thick skin. These are traces of fights with competitors in the harem. But the females calmly bask in the winter sun under the auspices of such a respectable protector.
During our stay, we saw sea lions begging more than once, parading around the moored fishing vessels. Fishermen brought their wives and children aboard the ship to visit. And they had fun by feeding beggars from their hands. These giants easily jumped more than half their body out of the water after a tasty fish. They quickly swallowed it and again raised their mustaches over the water, waiting for a handout. The children simply squealed with delight.
What awaited us at the port? Nothing happy! There was an impressive queue at the savings bank; they only gave me a small amount of money, once a month. It turned out that almost all the crews of the trawling fleet had an annual salary arrears for the voyage. The money supply was sorely lacking. Every day, in the morning, at the department's cash desks, there is a huge crowd of sufferers to receive money honestly earned at sea.
The entire corridor near the ticket office in the morning resembled an anthill. Hundreds and hundreds of fishermen rushed here, filling all the free space from the stairs. It was necessary to stand for many hours in stuffy and cramped conditions, hoping for luck to get at least something: vacation pay or time off, or regular pay or reserve pay. If one of these sufferers (which included Galya and I) wanted to relieve themselves, then they lost the queue, since it was impossible to squeeze back! Few survived, only the hardiest. When the cashier appeared at the window, she usually said that there was not much money and there was enough for twenty people in line. This is where the stampede began! Everyone wanted to get into this top twenty by hook or by crook, they shoved some certificates, pieces of paper, made scandals, cried. The faces of many acquaintances were unrecognizable - they were so distorted by anger and hopelessness. Rudely and shamelessly pushing weaker colleagues with their elbows, stronger people in line made their way to the coveted window. Women had no chance at all! So, 5 days passed in the crowd and all to no avail.
At that time, something absurd was happening on the floating base. A rumor has appeared, which has some basis, that the Avacha will no longer go on the voyage, it will be sent to China “for nails”, following the Novaya Kakhovka. In these conditions, when all the currency has been spent on clothes in South Korea, salaries are not given, they are written off from the ship, a hitherto dormant quality awakens in a person: to take everything that is bad!
And what is good on the doomed ship? The first mate has been gone for 2 years!
The library and video cassettes turned out to be of no use to anyone, as were the films on reels and the “Ukraine” film cameras. I saw carriers with these movie cameras in their hands, carrying dumbbells, barbells from the gym, linen from the laundry, supplies from the warehouse, ship cooks entering the cabins of the enlisted personnel and offering Yugoslav ham in large jars. Even air rifles and pellets turned out to be ownerless. Mechanics of all kinds kept bearings, seals, cuffs, and various components in their storerooms. All this was gradually confiscated and sent ashore. Something then appeared on the dumps of the flea market.
But how can so much goodness be carried through the entrance of the Mokhovsky fish processing plant? The people simply trampled a path through the neighboring hill, bypassing the guards.
To be honest, Galya and I, like all the other crew members, could not imagine coastal life under capitalism, especially in conditions of severe hyperinflation.
A familiar cook, Donchuk, often brought us butter on the flight that was not used up in the daily diet. Galya melted it on the stove and received ghee, which she and Donchuk shared in half. After several weeks of sailing, 8 kg of high-quality product that can be stored had accumulated.
In the laundry room where the wife worked, there was a massive write-off of linen, bedspreads, and curtains. Previously, all this was cut up and destroyed in the presence of an accountant-auditor. Now, in general, good linen was packaged and sent to family and friends on the mainland. By the way, at the turn of the 90s the post office was working at full capacity, people sent each other everything they had, and there were always crowded queues at post offices.
Desperate to get money, I decide to go with the bag to familiar officials in the department. First I go to Mikhail Fedotovich Filonov, I worked with him at the Avacha plant, where Filonov was the head. production. I come in without knocking, my man! But I’m wrong... It’s not the right time! Soviet power has fallen, the party has been dissolved and the official is no longer the same under capitalism. The guiding principle now is: “everyone dies alone” and “saving drowning people” is the work of the drowning people themselves!
Filonov somehow changed his face and exhaled:
What destinies, Roman?
Need forced me, Misha! Galya and I cannot get money for the flight and vacation pay. They were about to quit, the fleet was melting before our eyes. You work as Abramov’s deputy, maybe you can help us get a salary out of old friendship?
What are you saying, Roman! I’m like a squirrel in a wheel here, nothing but troubles, but I have nothing to do with finances! So, sorry! I went to the wrong address! - Filonov’s eyes ran and tried to look to the side.
Having had no salty slurp, I walk out the door.
No way! Refused to help us. Now I’ll go to Senotrusov, - Vladimir Panteleimonovich now works at UTRF as a commercial director, he left the fleet! - I explain to my wife in a businesslike manner.
Is this the one who went with you on the Avacha as a first mate, and then was the captain on the Komsomolsk-on-Amur ship? - the wife is interested.
Try it, Roma, you never know! Trying is not torture!
After waiting for the guests to leave the commercial director’s office, I go there myself.
Hello, Alekseich! Senotrusov's face breaks into a good-natured smile.
Hello, Vladimir! Did you hear that you recently arrived from Taiwan? - I'm trying to come from afar.
Yes, two days ago, now I’m getting into the swing of things. I went on a business trip to Taipei! I brought a video camera from there - great! They say a guarantee of up to 20 years, what a technology! Why did you complain? The party was dissolved a long time ago, where did you work during this time? - Senotrusov’s face again took on its usual cold expression. Well, how much he looked like Mayakovsky!
You see, Vladimir, my wife and I have been working at the Avacha shipyard for the last 3 years, now the ships are being scrapped, we decided to quit, but we can’t get any money. You have access to the accounting department so that my wife and I can somehow be paid, bypassing this huge and hopeless line of desperate people!
Now Senotrusov grew gloomy, leaned back in his chair, lit a cigarette, blew out smoke rings and said:
You see, Roman, I'm all conscious life I worked as a navigator, now times are different and I “reforged” into a businessman, but I didn’t have time to become a financier! So I'm sorry, but I can't help you!
At this moment, the next visitors come in, and I go out into the corridor.
Desperate to get money through the front porch, I decide to go to lawyer Komleva. She helped file a divorce from Elena 6 years ago, when I was still a party functionary, and my now ex-wife did not grant a divorce, pressing on the moral side in this matter. Komleva twice participated in court hearings while I was on the voyage, and radioed me at sea that the divorce was successfully completed.
This time I leave Galya on the street and go to a legal consultation. There are a lot of people there, everyone is discussing something, arguing.
I recognize, I recognize an old friend! - Nadezhda Ivanovna Komleva comes up to me and pats me on the shoulder in a friendly manner.
What problems? Why did you complain? After all, the average person doesn’t just come here! - She looked searchingly into my eyes.
Having learned the essence of the problem, the experienced lawyer willingly undertook to defend my interests in the city court. Not for free, of course.
A week later, the trial took place and at Sberbank I receive my and Galina’s hard-earned money from the company by proxy for the flight and vacation pay with time off. Being alone, I find myself in a stalemate: eight million rubles wrapped in the Kamchatskaya Pravda newspaper! With such a weighty paper bundle I go out to the bus stop. You can’t stuff so many banknotes into your pockets, alas!
There were a lot of people, and in Kamchatka the public transport schedule was poorly observed. It blows from the bay strong wind, fingers in gloves become stiff and stop obeying. The package slips out of your hands and the paper bursts! All the stacks of banknotes are scattered on the asphalt! The people standing at the bus stop immediately changed their faces. And this is understandable: while money is tight in the country, deposits are frozen, wages are chronically unpaid, some guy is scattering millions on the asphalt!
And only one compassionate woman handed me a string bag with the words:
Man, please take it! It’s no good carrying around such a lot of money in a newspaper; how much will you bring home? They earned the tea through hard work, they didn’t take the bank, did they? So I look at you and you have a naval uniform.
Having thanked the caring lady, I collect the stacks of bills in the net and quickly jump onto the approaching bus.
After leaving UTRF, Galya and I lived with friends the Yurlovs. Volodya Yurlov studied with me at the institute in the same group, and in the dormitory he lived in the next room. I have known him and his wife Natasha for 25 years. Our things - a large TV, a VCR, Korean blankets, leather items, clothes, our fighting dog Gray and both of us in addition - took up the whole room.
In general, it must be said that the Kamchatka residents, in fact all the Far Easterners, are a special breed of people, a specific mentality. They are characterized by empathy, generosity of soul, and tolerance of character. For example, once after the voyage there were no places in the fishing hotel and the manager. production of the floating base "Soviet Siberia", Yuri Pak provided us with a free apartment for his father, who had gone to the village of Northern Koryaki to rest for the summer. Moreover, the owner’s food supplies were put at our disposal, and these were several 5-liter cans of lightly salted chum salmon, doused with calcined sunflower oil.. That’s when we were lucky to eat boiled potatoes with large pieces of salmon. What a tsimus this is! Kamchatka potatoes also differ in their nutritional qualities from those from the mainland - they are much tastier and more crumbly! In addition, we drank tea with jam from the owner's honeysuckle - a Kamchatka berry, vaguely similar to blueberries, but piquant, and growing on tall bushes! Kamchatka bears often feast on honeysuckle!
And once we were given the apartment of a friend who was abroad on a business trip, this was done by transport prosecutor Alexander Petrov, whom I met at sea when they were investigating the disappearance of the refining machine operator Kolmakov (he, for some reason, fell overboard at night). The two-room apartment was furnished according to last word fashion of the time in the late 80s, elegant shelves filled with scarce printed materials, color photo albums about animals and fine arts, collected works of World Literature, Bolshaya Soviet Encyclopedia and many other publications. Huge flow of information! All this was complemented by Polish furniture in the living room and a kitchen set from the GDR! Truly a wealthy gentleman!
All this housing was provided easily, free of charge, on parole! No market relations!
But, as they say, once you’ve visited, it’s time to know your conscience! After all, we left the trawl fleet, we had to get air tickets to Leningrad, we couldn’t get there by any other means of transport. By that time, the Kamchatka Shipping Company had “deceased its life”; the railway, like on Sakhalin, did not exist. It was no easier with plane tickets than with money - you have to book a month in advance!
Times of troubles, organized criminal groups divided spheres of influence throughout the country.
They said that if someone wanted to take a foreign car to the mainland on a cargo plane, then at the airport the criminal elements demanded impressive kickbacks. Dissenting car owners had their car windows broken and their wheels pierced.
All processes occurring in the state resembled entropy.
I’m walking along Leninskaya Street in upset feelings, and here is the providence of fate - I see a small inconspicuous notice on the wall of the main post office:
"I can provide air transportation to Leningrad, there are places available, a 50% discount."
And the signature: the "Luch" store in the building of the "Kamchatka" cinema, ask Andrey.
Providence of fate! How can one not believe in God! Although until now I was an avowed materialist, like Feuerbach, who once declared:
“If cows believed in God, then God would be a cow!”
I immediately took the bull by the horns and found this establishment, which was not difficult.
Average lousy thrift store. Here, on improvised display shelves, rested objects from the previous stage of scientific and technological progress in the West: two worn-out VCRs of the “Sony” and “Samsung” types, AA batteries for remote controls, video cassettes with recordings. Nearby lay compact cassettes for instant Polaroid cameras, used double-cassette tape recorders and other goods designed for “advanced” buyers, since 3-5% of the country’s population owned video equipment in those years.
If Galina and I had not been on a visa flight, where we received currency for a vacation in a foreign port, we would not have had a TV, video equipment, or other shortages.
There were no customers in the store, and there was deathly silence. How could the average person know at that time that such establishments did not provide much profit, but successfully served as a kind of “cover” for another, hidden business that brought significant dividends. Crime, like an octopus, has spread its tentacles throughout Russian soil. Suddenly I hear from behind:
Did you want something? - the gray, lifeless eyes of a young man with a bull’s neck looked at me from under fused black eyebrows. He, it turns out, was sitting at the cash register and lazily leafing through a Playboy magazine.
Yes, I need to see Andrey, I read the advertisement, I just can’t get plane tickets to Leningrad!
No question, I’ll call him now! - answered the “jock” and disappeared behind the door into the utility room.
It's amazing how the cashier left me alone in trading floor? - a thought flashed and immediately went out, - I look around, feeling a prickly gaze on the back of my head! Out of nowhere, a powerfully built young man in jeans, a sweater and a cigarette stuck to his lower lip stands in the doorway from the street.
All in good order! Security doesn't sleep! - flashed through my head.
At this time, together with the “jock”, a pale-faced middle-aged man entered the hall, leaning on a cane. His thinness was striking. I see a calculator in the stranger’s hand. Leaping slightly on one leg, he comes closer and introduces himself:
Andrey, the director of this store, will be happy to listen to you!
I am Roman! Actually, I need to get to Leningrad as soon as possible! - Without mincing words, I will move on to the issue on the merits.
How many are you? Are there a lot of things? Will friends be there to meet you? - Blue eyes Andrey stared at me, not allowing me to look away.
Two: me and my wife, not counting the dog, and foreign goods, only 9 pieces of luggage! There is no one to meet, my parents are already old, let there be a surprise for them! - I give a comprehensive answer and immediately ask my interlocutor:
Andrey, are your tickets really 2 times cheaper than state tickets?
Yes, sure! Tomorrow at 10 o'clock departure from the airport to Elizovo. IL-76 cargo plane, don't be late! Here's the flight number! - He held out a piece of paper.
As for the delivery of things in Leningrad, you will arrive in Pulkovo on March 8, at 5 am, there is no transport, everything will not fit in a taxi! Our guys will deliver your things, but this is an additional service and costs $15 on top! - The store manager looked at my reaction like a boa constrictor at a rabbit. Although, perhaps it all just seemed!
No questions asked! - I exclaim in surprise, pleased with such luck.
In the evening, while drinking tea, we inform Volodya and Natasha Yurlov that we are flying away, they are in shock! They won’t even think about how we can deliver so many things to the airport tomorrow morning! Even our Gray perked up his ears, feeling changes, but did not understand what exactly. And then it dawned on my wife:
Listen, Roma, Pavel Taranikov has a foreign car, maybe it’s running? Call him, you still need to say goodbye!
You're flying out tomorrow, do you need to take your things? - Pavel’s voice sounded surprised on the telephone receiver.
Of course, I will help, the car is running. There were some breakdowns, but they have already been fixed. When do you arrive, Roma?
Tomorrow, at half past nine, I live on 50 Let Oktyabrya Avenue, at the Yurlovs’, we’ll be waiting, Pavel! Big greetings to my wife Galina!
The day was coming to an end, the setting sun gilded the tops of the Koryak and Avachinsky volcanoes. At the foot of the giants a shadow formed from the clouds, which compressed their upper part in rings.
The most important thing to do was to say goodbye to my son. Volodya was already in the 7th grade, he had shortcomings in his studies, as a result single-parent family. The street was doing its job! I took with me some of the clothes I bought for my son, canned salmon, red caviar, pollock liver, and crabs.
Lena greeted me coldly and immediately got ready to go somewhere. Vova was sitting at the children's computer, which I brought him from South Korea. In the mid-90s, foreign gaming computers with primitive games “6 in 1” or “3 in 1” and others began to become fashionable among children and teenagers. A white and black cat warmed up on the boy’s lap.
Musya! She will have kittens soon! We took her from the street! - Vovka smiles.
On the TV screen some little men are beating each other up. On the right side of the bedside table stands a boat with skiffs, which I made from plasticine in the sea for my son’s birthday. In the corridor there were scarce sneakers from the famous Puma brand. Of course, at the beginning of 1994, few children received such signs of attention, but this was not the main thing for the boy, unfortunately. He needs his father always nearby, not other people's uncles. And understanding this fact scratched my soul.
Vova, have you decided what you will become after school?
Dad, or an accountant, or a steward! - Vovka explained confidently.
Why he liked these professions, only God knows! But this is his right, even if not meaningful! Relatively speaking, the son of a colonel will never become a general, because the general also has a son! I myself didn’t know what I would work as upon arrival in Leningrad! After all, both the industrial and production infrastructure in the country was collapsing before our eyes!
Well, okay, son, don’t be bored here without me, gnaw on the granite of science, because when you come to Leningrad after school, there will be more serious examiners there! And mom can't help! - I said this to the fact that Lena worked at the same school as a Russian language teacher for many years and helped to improve her son’s academic performance, that is, Vovka got away with a lot. Having said goodbye to my child, I wandered back home.
The next morning, and it was Saturday, Pavel Taranikov drove up to our temporary shelter and the work of loading things began to boil. Soon his foreign car, the Opel Astra Sedan, was filled to capacity, including the trunk on the roof of the car. Pavel and I sat in front, and Galina and Gray sat behind us; the dog obediently lay down on the bedcloth and began to breathe, sticking out his tongue. So far he liked everything. Natasha and Vova Yurlov stood at the entrance to their entrance and waved their hands goodbye. Perhaps we were leaving hospitable Kamchatka forever!
Roman, did you receive money for the flight and payment from the accounting department? - Pavel asked without taking his eyes off the road.
The only way to get it was through the court, otherwise there were no prospects! - I explained sadly.
It's just my husband - swearing! He worked in the trawl fleet for so many years, he knows everyone, and he couldn’t get money through the “back porch”! - my wife suddenly intervened in the conversation.
So what, I’m also of that type, I’ll never go humiliating myself! - I unexpectedly feel the moral support of a friend.
Do you understand, Galya, who needs us now? Everyone is afraid for their own skin and tries to keep a low profile! People who don’t care deeply about the people and their problems came to power! The main thing for them is to fuck as much as possible in muddy water!
Elizovsky airport was busy. The lucky ones who had air tickets in their hands were in a hurry, some to board, some to check-in. The kiosks in front of the airport terminal sold smoked salmon and alcoholic beverages. Announcements like:
Dear passengers! Those interested can go to the video salon to watch the action movie "Rocky 2", the show starts at 11 o'clock!
Low-quality American video products have flooded our film market.
Pavel stopped the car in the area of the loading area. We quickly took things out of the car. Taranikov was hurrying to work.
All the best, happy stay, Pavel! Thank you very much for your help! - Galya kissed him on the cheek. I said goodbye like a man, shaking his hand.
Have a safe flight and a successful landing! - the Opel deftly turned around and sped away.
Roma, I’ll go for a walk with the dog, because the road ahead is not long! - the wife took Gray on a leash and soon they called her “Minka”...
I looked around - two bright foreign cars with broken windows and punctured tires stood nearby. It was clear that the miser pays twice. Apparently, the authority who controlled this area, or zone of influence, did not like the intractability of the car owners.
From endorsed flights, crew members brought foreign cars, placing them on fishing vessels in the most unexpected places, in a semi-vertical position, securing them between boats and life rafts. Sometimes, in a storm, cars were washed overboard, then only Neptune and his “servants” used them...
Loading such baggage onto planes and sending it to the mainland would then provide for impressive kickbacks to organized crime groups (OCGs).
Loaders were rushing back and forth past me on their self-propelled carts. They could tell a lot about the criminal life of the airport! Through the lattice fence, in the clearing fog, the silhouette of an IL-76 plane appeared, and its number soon became visible, the same number was on my piece of paper from Andrei. A refueling truck pulled away from the plane, and people were milling around it. This board stood apart from other passenger aircraft. It must be said that several years have passed since the border checks for passengers arriving in Kamchatka were removed; it was no longer a restricted zone.
I’m already smoking my second cigarette, but I still don’t have mine!
Hello, old man! - someone suddenly taps me on the shoulder from behind.
Listen, Roman, you, like an astral body, have disappeared somewhere and have not been heard or seen for many years! - Shura was tipsy, his face was flushed in the cold. The little slitted eyes shone mischievously.
I went to sea and, by the way, I was present at the meeting of students of the MA-52 group two years ago, but you were not there! - I try to argue, but my interlocutor deafens my words. He busily shook off the cigarette and put out the cigarette on the sole of his shoe.
On Bondarenko’s feet she wore the then popular winter shoes “Farewell to Youth” with locks on the side. This cautiously indicated that the owner of the shoes was not a wealthy citizen.
And I, brother, am flying to Palana! Business is like that, you know? There - two boxes of vodka, from there - valuable fur pelts. Profit reaches 400%! - Shura laughs.
I’m not Miklouho-Maclay, and they are not Papuans! If not me, will someone else fill this niche and start the fur business?
Look, Shura, be careful, not the authorities, so the bandits can get on your tail? Recently, Sasha Sklyarov, a ship mechanic from our course, was killed; he was also involved in business, selling cars imported from Japan! I went to the cellar to get some potatoes and the body still hasn’t been found! - I warn Bondarenko just in case.
But I’m not one of the timid ones and I hold my tail with a carrot! I'll go, Roma, registration has been announced! - Shura exclaimed and, saying goodbye, disappeared into the crowd as quickly as he appeared.
Looking ahead, I will say that many years later, it became known that Bondarenko did not return from Palana alive - he was stabbed to death due to drunkenness...
At this time something wet poked my hand.
Grey! You took a walk, now you have to be petted for it? - I chat behind the ear of a faithful friend.
Of course, if you take a dog on a plane legally, then you need to get vaccinations, fill out a permit, health documents, consent from neighbors in the passenger cabin, and other hassle! But in our case, you don’t need anything!
Galya, go with Gray to that plane over there, I’ll hire a loader for now.
He didn't have to wait long. Together with him we put all our things on the cart and go to the airfield. At the plane I meet the person accompanying the standard cargo, he introduces himself:
Timur Armenakovich, don’t worry about your luggage, now everything will be taken to the compartment! Unfortunately, our ladder is suspended, the guys will help you lift the dog, but you yourself, somehow, with God’s strength!
Two bulls with inscrutable faces easily tore the muzzled Gray off the ground and brought him into the salon, the dog did not resist, he apparently understood the inevitability of such an event.
The IL-76 had only 12 passenger seats, the rest of the space on both sides of the cabin was occupied by boxes of canned Chatka crabs in its own juice and jars of salmon caviar.
This is a good and rich business! - Galina whispered in my ear.
The boxes stood in 4 rows and were secured along the sides to prevent the cargo from shifting during flight.
The flight itself took place normally, Timur was with his wife and two gloomy, taciturn guys who played backgammon almost the entire way. Since the difference in time zones between Kamchatka and Leningrad is 9 hours, we spent the entire flight greeting the morning and flying to catch up with time! Therefore, our air transport arrived almost at the same time in Leningrad as it left Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. Only two hours spent at gas stations in Bratsk and Omsk were lost!
At Pulkovo airport, the owners of the flight first of all “got rid of” us, loading us and our belongings into a cargo taxi.
An hour later I was already ringing the doorbell of my parents on Slavy Avenue.
Have you already arrived? - genuine amazement was visible in the eyes of the mother and father, who had just risen from bed.
Meanwhile, behind Galya and me, the entire landing was lined with video and television equipment, boxes of things and suitcases, and Gray sat proudly next to us. The thought involuntarily comes to mind about the benefits of the “non-state structures” that helped us out!
There are tears in my mother’s eyes: so much time has been lost at sea, seeing each other on visits, the power has already changed and the socio-political system is not the same, grandmother Lyuba is gone, the youngest son Yuri has become a small business owner, the money has become easier in the hundreds, or even thousands once!
Well, Roma, can we congratulate you on the end of the protracted naval epic? - Father hugged me to him for a moment.
The parents had grown old; time had silvered their temples, thinned the skin on their hands, and noticeably added wrinkles to their faces. My father quit his job a long time ago. Peter and Paul Fortress, as soon as I put my party card on the table in 1989. Many at that time did this, but not as a tribute to fashion, but as an act of desperation, at the call of the heart. The CPSU at that time was rapidly losing its solidity and began to disintegrate. Decadent moods in the cultural environment. A multi-party system began to develop in the country at centrifugal speed. In 1988, the “Democratic Union” arose with the leader V. Novodvorskaya, followed by the “Christian Democratic Union of Russia” with the leader A. Ogorodnikov at the head and ... off we go! The betrayal of the interests and ideals of ordinary communists from primary party organizations and lower levels flourished at that time!
By the mid-90s, the idea was imposed on Russians that communists and people sympathizing with them were a red-brown plague, dangerous for state power in the country. Such epithets were often thrown around by Yegor Gaidar, Anatoly Chubais, and others like them...
Here, meet our Moreman Gray in person! He spent his entire adult life, 4 years long, away from the shores! - Galina introduced the dog. Gray wagged his tail, realizing that this was exactly what he was talking about.
Come in, dear guests! Check mark, take off your outerwear, don’t be shy! - Mom rushed about in the hallway in confusion, not knowing where to start, whether to carry things, or to bring the dog into the room.
Of course, my parents’ apartment is a temporary shelter; after renovating my grandmother’s room in Strelna, we moved to live where I was born in 1951. During the war, the Germans drove the residents out of this Zhil-Gorodok with rifle butts, including Grandma Lyuba and her teenage mother. Then they ended up in a concentration camp with refugees and, after sorting, were sent to Germany for hard labor. At the end of the war, my mother met my father in Strelna, at a dance, a former cabin boy, and at that moment a conscript sailor, the best tap dancer in the unit and the first bully.
But that is another story!
⚔️🛰️🛠️⛓️🖥️🖲️⛴️🛳️ Oceanographic research vessel of project 22010 “Cruys” Russian Navy, Auxiliary Fleet ⛴️ OIS “YANTAR” Oceanographic research vessel of project 22010 work code “Crew” ys" was created by the Central Marine Design Bureau (CMKB) "Almaz" in St. Petersburg. Chief designer- Alexander Forst, responsible at the Almaz Central Marine Design Bureau for the direction of maritime support vessels and ships special purpose. The construction of the ship was carried out in Kaliningrad at the Yantar Baltic Shipyard. The main tasks of the ship are to explore the seabed and search for various sunken objects. The construction of the ship was carried out by order of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, the ship is intended for GUGI (Main Directorate of Deep-Sea Research). A contract for the construction of Project 22010 "Yantar" and Project 11982 "Seliger" (test vessel) vessels worth 7 billion rubles was signed between the Russian Navy State Administration and the Yantar shipyard on February 16, 2009. The keel of the vessel took place on July 8, 2010, on the day of the 65th anniversary of the Yantar plant and in honor of this date it was named after him. The hull of the vessel was removed from the shed of workshop No. 178 on May 31, 2012, and on December 5, 2012 the vessel was launched. On June 19, 2014, mooring tests of the ship began, and on May 23, 2015, the ship was transferred to the Russian Navy. ⛴️ The oceanographic vessel “Yantar” with an unlimited coverage area is the lead vessel of Project 22010. This is a new generation ship, which in its characteristics and capabilities significantly exceeds the ships of the Soviet oceanic fleet. According to the developers’ estimates, the lead ship “Yantar” has no analogues in the world in terms of its complex of technical equipment. The vessel is designed not only to explore the thickness of the World Ocean, but also its bottom. For this purpose, the ship has special deep-sea manned and autonomous uninhabited underwater vehicles that are able to dive to a depth of about 6 thousand meters. The oceanographic vessel can also be used for rescue purposes; the equipment installed on it will allow searching for sunken objects on the sea and ocean floor. The ship can accommodate helicopters and has a platform for take-off and landing of one helicopter. It is the manned autonomous deep-sea vehicles (AGVs), which the Yantar carries, that are its main special equipment. The ship can use two types of AGAs: project 16810 “Rus” and project 16811 “Consul”. It is reported that the Yantar ship of Project 22010 can simultaneously carry and support the use of two devices of this type. Some sources also contain information that this ship may be a carrier of the Mir deep-sea manned vehicles. Autonomous deep-sea vehicles "Rus" and "Consul" are able to descend to depths of up to 6,000 meters and 6,270 meters, respectively. The lifespan of the devices is up to 500 dives to a depth of more than 4000 meters and 1000 dives to a depth of up to 4000 meters. The purpose of the “Rus” and “Consul” devices: video recording and classification of objects located on seabed; carrying out underwater technical work using a manipulator device; inspection of underwater objects and structures; delivery to the ground or lifting to the surface of various objects weighing up to 200 kg. ⛴️ The oceanographic research vessel “Yantar” is the lead ship of Project 22010, created by specialists from the Almaz Central Marine Design Bureau. The ship's displacement is 5.2 thousand tons, length - 108.1 meters, width 17.2 meters. These are the only characteristics of the ship that are freely available on the websites of USC and the Yantar shipyard. There is also information on the network that the full speed of the ship will be 15 knots, and its crew will be from 50 to 60 people. The ship's power plant includes two rudder propellers (RPPs) with fixed pitch propellers (FPPs), two thrusters and four diesel generators of 1600 kW each. The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation is considering the possibility of launching the Project 22010 oceanographic research vessel into series if the technical capabilities of the lead ship Yantar are successfully tested, Oleg Shumakov, acting general director of the Yantar Baltic Shipyard, spoke about this in an interview with RIA Novosti journalists. He says: “Given the large number of technical means that are capable of carrying out underwater and deep-sea research installed on the Project 22010 ship, I believe that this project will be continued; we are already having such negotiations with the customer.”
It's no secret that canned fish made at sea from fresh raw materials is much better in its consumer qualities and characteristics than those released on shore. It is for the production of fish products from fresh raw materials that modern floating bases have been created.
One of the most modern floating factories is the floating base “Vsevolod Sibirtsev” - a truly unique structure, the scale and technology of which will take your breath away. This is the world's largest floating fish factory, its dimensions are comparable to a twenty-story building. The technological capabilities of the vessel are also impressive - every day the floating base is capable of processing 500 tons of raw materials into frozen products and producing 11 thousand boxes of cans, 15 tons of fishmeal and 5 tons of fat. On board the floating base, fish products are produced directly into the sea: canned food, preserves, frozen fish. And 11 trawlers provide raw materials at once. A fishing vessel is involved in almost all types of fishing - salmon, saury, herring, pollock, and so on. All products on board the ship are manufactured under the Dobroflot brand.
One of the largest floating fish factories in the world, Vsevolod Sibirtsev, is of the Sodruzhestvo type. It was built in 1989 in Finland at the Rauma-Repola shipyard and became the third in a series of three vessels of the same type. The first floating base "Commonwealth" was scrapped in China, the second floating base "Peter Zhitnikov" is still sailing to this day. After launching and after 22 years of operation, the Vsevolod Sibirtsev floating base was also in service. However, in 2011, the then owner of the Preobrazhenskaya Trawling Fleet Base sold the vessel to a Greek company under the pretext of unprofitability of use. The Greeks wanted, as part of a joint project with the administration of Hainian province, to adapt the ship into a floating hotel for fishermen in the area of the Xisha Islands (Paracel Islands). But the project was curtailed, and the floating base was put up for sale. There were many potential buyers, but everyone was confused by the only drawback of the production capacity - the vessel itself does not catch fish, but requires very large volumes of raw materials. So in 2012, the floating base “Vsevolod Sibirtsev” was sold to the Russian company “Yuzhmorrybflot”. After the purchase, the fishing vessel underwent major repairs and modernization.
largest fish processing ship
"Vsevolod Sibirtsev" photo
After returning to her native seaside port of Nakhodka, the floating base “Vsevolod Sibirtsev” is back in service and regularly goes on voyages, and the ship’s crew, without a doubt, works in the most comfortable conditions in the world. Today, no one in the world has such working and leisure conditions. The floating base “Vsevolod Sibirtsev” has everything necessary for the crew: a cinema and even a gym. Here sailors can maintain their health in good shape throughout the voyage. But not everyone will do this, since shifts at sea last 12 hours - and there are no weekends or holidays.
Fishermen have at their disposal not only a spacious wardroom, but also a volleyball court, a swimming pool, several saunas, and even Internet access via WiFi. In addition, the air conditioning and ventilation system, the fire alarm system, and some of the cabins were converted into real hotel rooms, like in four-star hotels, were completely restored at the fish factory.
Technical data of the fish processing floating base “Vsevolod Sibirtsev”:
Displacement - 32096 tons;
Length - 179.2 m;
Vessel height - 45 m;
Autonomy - 9 months;
Crew - 600 people;
Productivity - 700 tons of fish products per day;
According to experts, the return of the Vsevolod Sibirtsev fish processing ship will play an important role in the entire Russian fishing industry. This will have a positive impact on the country’s food security, and very soon the shelves of all Russian stores will be filled with Dobroflot canned goods, and anyone will be able to evaluate the quality of the new products.