A third 35-metre tuna boat, built by an Algerian shipbuilding and repair company in the port of Zemmouri in Boumerdes, was received and launched on Saturday in Algiers seaport.
The tuna vessel named “Wafid Zine Eddine” was inaugurated by the Minister of Fisheries and Fishery Productions, Hicham Sofiane Salaouatchi, and the Minister of Transport, Kamal Beldjoud.
This deep-sea tuna fishing boat was built by the private shipbuilding and repair company “CORENAV”, which has been active in Zemmouri port for many years and has already built two identical tuna boats, delivered last May.
On the sidelines of the inauguration, the Ministers for Fisheries and Transport welcomed the “qualitative progress” made by Algeria in the field of shipbuilding and the expansion of its fleet.
The inauguration of this third tuna vessel comes as a concrete expression of a governmental objective in accordance with the instructions of the President of the Republic, Mr Abdelmadjid Tebboune, as regards the reinforcement of food security in its aspect related to fishing and the setting up of a naval fleet that will allow professionals to invest in the field of deep-sea fishing, said Mr Salaouatchi, hailing Algeria’s potential in this field.
The minister underlined that his sector intended to “invest in fishing in international seas”, recalling that Algeria’s bluefin tuna fishing quota had increased from 1,650 tonnes in 2022 to 2023 tonnes this year.
Shipbuilding, with an integration rate of 65%, can create direct and indirect jobs and make fishing and fish sales more attractive, he said.
For his part, Mr Beldjoud said that all the sectors concerned were working to implement the strict instructions of the President of the Republic regarding the development of shipbuilding, stressing that his department was working to bring together the necessary conditions for the implementation of this approach, particularly through incentives for shipbuilding professionals.
