On July 4, ahead of the Maritime and River Fleet Workers Day, a video conference was held with the participation of Vitaly Savelyev, Deputy Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation, and Roman Starovoit, the head of the Ministry of Transport of Russia.

Representatives from industry organizations, including FSUE “Rosmorport”, presented reports on significant projects underway in the field of maritime and river transport.

Opening the meeting, Vitaly Savelyev read a congratulatory message to the participants from President of Russia Vladimir Putin, and noted:

“I deeply respect you and the work you perform daily. We face high goals. I am confident that you will achieve them successfully and accomplish all the large-scale tasks ahead. I wish you success, good fortune, and prosperity.”

Roman Starovoit read a congratulation from Mikhail Mishustin, the Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation, to industry workers. He added that a new national project “Efficient Transport System” was being implemented in Russia and would serve as the foundation for the development of maritime and river transport through 2030. Particular attention is being paid to the federal project on workforce development, which has been included in the national projects for the first time.

Alexander Poshivai, Deputy Minister of Transport of the Russian Federation, spoke about the achievements of the transport complex in the area of maritime and river transport. He noted that, in the face of significant changes in global logistics, Russia’s water transport maintained its stability.

“The capacity of seaports reached a historic maximum last year — 1.4 billion tons. In 2025, we plan to complete three investment projects in the seaports of Murmansk, Ust-Luga, and Vanino, which will provide an additional capacity of 26 million tons,” Alexander Poshivai explained.

During the video conference, representatives of FSUE “Rosmorport” branches reported on the implementation of key projects at the enterprise.

Fikret Ismailov, director of the Makhachkala Branch, being aboard the self-propelled dredger Kronshlot, reported on the completion of dredging operations at a key transportation hub in the Caspian Sea – in the waters of the seaport of Makhachkala.

In the current season, the Kronshlot has worked in the approach canal of the seaport. Additionally, the multi-bucket dredger Astrakhanets is working on achieving navigational depths in the port's water area. To date, 229,000 cubic meters of soil have been removed, and work is progressing ahead of schedule, with the 2025 plan being nearly fulfilled.

Mikhail Ozheredov, Deputy Director of the Azovo-Chernomorsky Basin Branch – Head of the Azov Department, reported on the readiness of floating pier No. 9 in the seaport of Taganrog to receive passenger vessels. Activities to resume passenger transportation have been carried out pursuant to the instructions of Chairman of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Valentina Matvienko.

Roman Agafonov, Deputy Director of the Azovo-Chernomorsky Basin Branch – Head of the Sochi Department, spoke about another project commissioned by FSUE “Rosmorport” – the restoration of the three-tiered tower with a spire of the Sochi sea terminal.

As of now, the primary restoration work on the cultural heritage site of regional significance has been completed. It is the first ever reconstruction of such scale. Thanks to a comprehensive approach, it was possible to remove later and contemporary structural, architectural, and decorative elements and to recreate the most essential components that contribute to the stylistic integrity of the monument.

The North-Western Basin Branch presented the results of the ice navigation for the 2024-2025 season in the freezing seaports of the Gulf of Finland in the Baltic Sea. The report was delivered by the branch director Alexander Strelnikov from the deck of the enterprise’s flagship icebreaker Viktor Chernomyrdin, which returned from the Arctic in June after successfully operating along the Northern Sea Route.

Alexander Strelnikov noted that this season, the safety of navigation was ensured by 13 icebreakers operated by the branch, which collectively guided 1,183 vessels. The branch is currently preparing its icebreaker fleet for the upcoming winter navigation period.

Andrei Balashov, the deputy director for maritime safety of the North-Western Basin Branch, delivered a report on the implementation of a project involving the remote operation of vessels at the enterprise. The project includes modern innovative automobile and railway ferries Marshal Rokossovsky and General Chernyakhovsky, owned by FSUE “Rosmorport”, which provide for transportation access to the Kaliningrad region.

Since being equipped with autonomous navigation systems, the ferries have transported over 2 million tons of cargo on the Seaport of Ust-Luga – Seaport of Kaliningrad line, covering more than 200,000 nautical miles.

Andrei Balashov emphasized that the operation of the ferries in remote control mode have shown significant positive outcomes. Currently, the project is expanding to include the waste collection vessel Koporye, which ensures environmental safety in the seaports of the Baltic Sea.