Roman Starovoit, Minister of Transport of the Russian Federation, solemnly handed over the model of the innovative dual-fuel ferry Marshal Rokossovsky of FSUE “Rosmorport” to the State Central Museum of Modern History of Russia during a solemn meeting dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Soviet Commercial Fleet JSC.

The celebration took place in the museum building in Moscow on December 20. Sergey Pylin, General Director of FSUE “Rosmorport”, took part in the event.

Andrey Tarasenko, Head of the Federal Agency for Maritime and River Transport, Yuri Mikhailov, Chairman of the Regional Public Organization “Council of Veterans of the Maritime and River Fleet”, Sergey Frank, Chairman of the Board of Directors at Sovcomflot PJSC, Alexey Klyavin, President of the All-Russian Industrial Employers' Association “Russian Chamber of Shipping”, and Nikolay Tsakh, Minister of Transport of the Russian Federation in 1996-1998, made welcoming speeches.

The ceremony opened with a march performed by the orchestra of the Ministry of Transport of Russia. The National Flag of the Russian Federation, the flag of the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation, of the Federal Agency for Maritime and River Transport, and of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics were brought in by the Banner Group of the Military Training Center at the Russian University of Transport.

Roman Starovoit read out congratulations from Mikhail Mishustin on the centenary of the founding of the Soviet Commercial Fleet JSC. “Its foundation became an important stage in the organization of a unified maritime navigation management system, gave a powerful impetus to the expansion of domestic and international economic ties of our country, strengthened its position in the global market,” the Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation noted.

The Minister of Transport, in turn, congratulated the employees and veterans of the organization, which unites the entire commercial fleet of the country.

“Today, your knowledge and experience are of great necessity to our younger generation, to those who are about to succeed us. We are facing very difficult tasks indeed, but I am convinced that our knowledge, strength and professionalism will help us accomplish them,” Roman Starovoit emphasized. After the speech, he solemnly presented the museum with a model ferry.

Irina Velikanova, Director of the State Central Museum of Modern History of Russia, thanked for the model and stressed that it was a valuable acquisition for the museum, which possesses the largest number of models of ships of various types and capacities among non-major museums.

Andrey Tarasenko emphasized in his speech that the history of the Russian navy began in the tenth century and has gone a long way in its development. He noted that just for 20 years of Rosmorrechflot's activity, maritime transport had shown high performance. Today, thanks to a unique team, the industry is coping with the tasks set by the state for the benefit of the prosperity of the Motherland.

The Marshal Rokossovsky automobile and railway ferry is the lead vessel of a series of innovative dual-fuel ferries of the CNF19M project. In March 2022, the new advanced vessel began operating on the Seaport of Ust-Luga – Seaport of Kaliningrad ferry line in order to ensure stable transport communications between the Kaliningrad Region and the main territory of Russia. In October 2022, a ferry of similar characteristics, General Chernyakhovsky, was put on the line.

In 2023, the ferries were the first in Russia to receive certificates of maritime autonomous and remotely operated surface ships (MASS) and began operating in remote control mode using autonomous navigation tools.