Russia’s largest shipbuilding group, the United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC), confirmed that the modernization project at its Shipbuilding Plant Severnaya Verf in St. Petersburg is expected to commence in the third quarter of 2026. The shipyard previously stated that existing shipbuilding projects will not be interrupted during the modernization process.
Under the renovation plan, Severnaya Verf intends to construct a new set of specialized shipbuilding facilities, including a 100-meter-high indoor dry dock equipped with a crane capable of lifting up to 1,000 tons, along with new warehouses and painting areas. The project is scheduled to be completed in 2030, at which time its total factory area will nearly double to 1 million square meters.
Following the upgrade, the Severnaya Verf St. Petersburg base will fully adopt the hull block assembly shipbuilding process, which involves pre-assembling and painting individual hull blocks weighing up to 900 tons before integrating them into the ship’s hull. This will enable the shipyard to build and deliver up to 11 large vessels annually, including Aframax tankers, liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers, container ships, bulk carriers and research vessels.
According to records, United Shipbuilding Corporation, operated by VTB Bank, was established in March 2007. It owns over 40 enterprises, including design bureaus, research centers, shipyards, ship repair facilities and machinery manufacturing plants. The corporation consolidates the majority of Russia’s domestic shipbuilding resources, employs more than 9,000 staff, and produces commercial vessels, nuclear submarines, aircraft carriers and other naval vessels.