As part of its participation in the events of the XVII International exhibition NEVA 2023, dedicated to civil shipbuilding, shipping, port activities and offshore development, FSUE “Rosmorport” shared its experience and prospects for implementing projects in the field of organizing tourist cruises on icebreakers of the enterprise.

Vasily Strugov, Deputy General Director for Fleet of FSUE “Rosmorport”, made a report at the strategic session “Development of Cruise Shipping”.

Konstantin Anisimov, Deputy Head of the Federal Agency for Sea and River Transport, gave an introductory speech during the session. During his speech, he stressed that currently, in order to develop passenger navigation on the inland waterways of the country, dredging works in the limiting areas are being carried out constantly. One of the problematic hydrotechnical structures for shipping is the Volga-Caspian Sea Shipping Canal, where complex development work is currently being carried out by FSUE “Rosmorport” in order to achieve a passing draft of vessels of 4.5 m. Among the achievements, Konstantin Anisimov noted the opening of a new passenger berth No. 9 of FSUE “Rosmorport” in the seaport of Taganrog in the Rostov region, where the first vessels of the Vodohod Company have already made vessel calls.

Vasily Strugov spoke in his report about the cruise shipping with the involvement of FSUE “Rosmorport” icebreakers and shared the experience of the enterprise on organizing trips to the Arctic and Antarctica with passengers on board. In recent years, such expeditions to the North and South Poles have been repeatedly carried out on the icebreakers Kapitan Khlebnikov and Kapitan Dranitsyn of project 1101 during vessels’ free periods.

At the moment, FSUE “Rosmorport” is working on the modernization of these vessels, built in Finland in the late 1970s - early 1980s, in order to extend their life for further involvement in icebreaking in the White Sea and the waters of the freezing ports of the Far East, as well as the use of vessels for passenger cruises.

As a result of the modernization, which is planned to be completed by 2028, the vessels will have the Icebreaker7 ice class and will meet modern environmental and safety requirements. Icebreakers will be equipped with the latest rescue equipment, cabins will be renewed for comfortable stay of passengers and crew members on board.

The enterprise is considering the possibility of organizing cruise routes between the seaports of Murmansk and Vladivostok, where the Kapitan Khlebnikov and Kapitan Dranitsy icebreakers are based. Tourists will be offered an excursion program, including one-day stops with visits to islands and archipelagos.

“The specifics of these vessels involvement is that during the summer navigation we can make at least two oncoming routes along the Northern Sea Route lasting about 30 days. In case of demand for cruises there is a possibility to make a circular voyage, thus returning icebreakers to their home ports,” Vasily Strugov added.