KALININGRAD. April 3 (Interfax-AVN) - More than 40 combat and auxiliary ships will be decommissioned at the Baltic Fleet before the end of 2002, a source at the fleet's headquarters told Interfax-Military News Agency on Wednesday.
The source said that some of the ships were to be sold by the sale department of the Baltic Fleet. The fleet now operates some 100 combat and more than 200 auxiliary ships. The command of the fleet intends to sell small anti-submarine ships built in East Germany in 1986, the Druzhny guard-ship, the Donesky Shakhter large landing ship and the unique Sevan rescue ship that has been recently upgraded abroad; it was dispatched to the Baltic fleet from Sevastopol in 1993. Several tanker vessels are to be sold, too.
The source said that a preliminary agreement on procurement of the Druzhny guard-ship had been concluded with the Moscow administration; the ship is to be used as a fleet museum.
The rationale behind the decision to sell the ships is that the command of the fleet lacks funds necessary for regular repairs and maintenance of the assets. The source added that no ships were to enter service with the Baltic Fleet in the near future.
Chief of the Baltic Fleet press-service Colonel Anatoly Lobsky confirmed that some ships of the fleet would be decommissioned and sold. Lobsky said that a total of 16 combat ships would be excluded from the fleet, yet not all them would be decommissioned. Some of the ships would be prepared for long storage.