Following Protests, Budget Cuts and a Reality Check, Moscow Plans to Allow River and Sea Vessels to Remain Service until Age of 50

Paul Goble

            Staunton, Feb. 10 – Last year, Moscow officials proposed in a draft law the decommissioning of all Russian riverine and ocean ships after they reached the age of 40, but after the budget for replacements was cut by half, regional protests, and evidence Russian yards couldn’t deliver in time, these same officials have said ships may remain in service until 50. 

            (On the original announcement, protests from regional officials, and backtracking, see windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2025/11/to-boost-shipbuilding-russias.html, windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2026/01/khabarovsk-governor-denounces-moscows.html,  vedomosti.ru/business/articles/2026/02/10/1175139-mintrans-predlozhil-smyagchit-zakon-o-vethih-sudah  and themoscowtimes.com/2026/02/10/srok-sluzhbi-vethih-sudov-v-rossii-uvelichat-do-50-let-iz-za-otsutstviya-deneg-na-stroitelstvo-novih-a186793.)

            This pattern of making bold announcements and then backing away from them has become increasingly common as Putin struggles to find the money for his war in Ukraine and guts all programs not directly related to that. But in this case, this decision poses some real threats to Russia and any countries to which its ships travel.

            On the one hand, the retention rather than replacement of so many older ships means that many of them will be tied up in drydock for repairs, thus limiting the size of the Russian domestic and foreign fleet far more than the statistics about total number of ships in Russia’s possession suggests.

            And on the other, such aging vessels, many of which were scheduled to be decommissioned not at 40 but at 25 or even less, are likely to suffer more accidents both in Russian  waters and in the waters and ports to which these Russian vessels go and thus posing an ever-increasing danger to both.