The passenger hydrofoil vessel Cosmonaut Pavel Popovich (Kometa 120M) made a test voyage on the Sochi - Sukhumi route on August 6. The high-speed motor ship chartered by FSUE “Rosmorport” departed from berth No. 1 of the city sea terminal and voyaged 72 nautical miles along the Black Sea coast to the seaport of the capital of Abkhazia.

In Sukhumi, passengers were greeted by representatives of Abkhazia headed by the country's President Badra Gunba. First Deputy Head of the Administration of the President of the Russian Federation Sergey Kirienko also took part in the event. Now, the city is featuring a large-scale gastronomic festival on the Makhajirov Embankment, and its opening was timed to coincide with the arrival of Kometa vessel and the launch of a light and music fountain on the water.

The first passengers of Kometa were residents of Sochi, Abkhazia, journalists of federal and regional media. They were accommodated on board the vessel, which can carry up to 120 people and five crew members.

According to Anna Fomenko, Director of the FSUE “Rosmorport” Azovo-Chernomorsky Basin Branch, who was also on board, a lot of work was done before the launch of Kometa. Customs, border, sanitary and technical issues were resolved on the part of Russia and Abkhazia, which made it possible to organize a test voyage by the scheduled date.

“FSUE “Rosmorport” has become the operator of the first voyage of Kometa, which in the future may connect Sochi and Sukhumi on a permanent basis. This modern vessel develops speed up to 65 km/h which allows passengers to get to the capital of Abkhazia in 2.5 hours. Now this is the fastest way to get to the city, as the rail travel on the Lastochka train takes more than 4 hours, and about the same by car. Moreover, tourists can enjoy stunning views of the Black Sea coast during the voyage,” Anna Fomenko added.

The branch director emphasized that all three berths in the Cruise Harbor of the seaport of Sochi were technically capable of accommodating Kometa. The passengers will pass through a permanent multilateral checkpoint across the Russian state border. The inspection time when Kometa is fully loaded is about an hour.

Earlier Badra Gunba and Sergey Kirienko at a field meeting discussed the creation of a regular sea route between Sochi and Sukhumi. The initiative of Abkhazia to develop tourism in the region and strengthen transportation links with Russia was supported by the Russian Ministry of Transport and Rosmorrechflot.

Grigory Tambia, Chief Engineer of the Abkhazian Shipping Company, reported on the readiness of the seaport of Sukhumi to receive Kometa. He explained that important improvements at the berth had been made in accordance with the technical requirements of the ship owner.

The vessel Cosmonaut Pavel Popovich became the fifth Kometa constructed at the Vympel shipyard in Rybinsk. The 35-meter long high-speed motor ship develops speed up to 35 knots. Its range in full displacement is 200 miles, autonomy of navigation is 8 hours. Kometa regularly sails on the route between Novorossiysk, Gelendzhik and Sochi during the navigation season in the Azov-Black Sea basin.