OREANDA-NEWS   In recent years, a large number of young people have joined the ranks of shipbuilders in Russia, although previously it was believed that older people with relevant competencies and experience should build ships. The head of the Russian Maritime Board, Nikolai Patrushev, told about this in an interview with Arguments and Facts.

He acknowledged that there is a "significant shortage" of specialists with secondary vocational and higher education in the industry, but pointed to an increase in the number of applicants to maritime technical universities and colleges and a younger staff.

"Factories are gradually being transformed, it is already pleasant to enter many workshops, people go there willingly to work, their work is appreciated," the official said.

He cited the recently opened Moscow Shipyard as an example. The designs of the electric vessels produced on it belong to specialists whose average age barely exceeds 30 years. "I think this is the best illustration of the rejuvenation of the industry," Patrushev concluded.

In January, he said that the Russian shipbuilding industry is struggling with a shortage of qualified IT specialists, that is, those who combine deep engineering knowledge with digital technology skills. According to the head of the Maritime Board, low salaries and difficult working conditions remain a problem, which do not attract young people, especially when compared with the commercial IT sector.

Almost two years ago, in May 2024, Andrey Kostin, the head of VTB and chairman of the Board of Directors of the United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC), compared a visit to Russian shipyards with an excursion to a historical museum. He was horrified by the antiquity of the existing equipment and the structures themselves.