CASPIAN and BLACK SEA CRUISES: Russia and Azerbaijan sign Agreement - New Cruise ship Peter the Great to start cruises in 2020
In accordance with the memorandum on cooperation, signed between the Azerbaijan Caspian Shipping Company (AIPM) and the Moscow River Shipping Company "Mosturflot", the first tourist tours will be launched on the Caspian Sea by the end of 2019.
Two cruise ships are currently being built in Russia for the Caspian cruises project, one of them being “Peter The Great” announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin during the 5th Caspian Summit in August 2018 and expected to enter service in 2020.
The technical characteristics of the first new cruise ship, which will be used in the program, called “Peter the Great”, were unveiled recently by the Association of Tour Operators of the Russian Federation Atorus.ru.
After more than 20 years of fraught diplomatic efforts, Russia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan agreed in the Kazakh coastal city of Aktau upon a legal framework for sharing the world’s largest inland body of water, which bridges Asia and Europe.
First voyages of the “Peter the Great”
According to “Mosturflot”, the launch of the Peter the Great motor ship is scheduled for 2019. The ship will offer three cruise programs, which will connect the Caspian Sea and the Black Sea.
The first program will be the 11-day route “Treasures of the East” with the starting and termination points in Baku and calls to the ports of Bandar-e Anzali, Nowshahr (Iran), Turkmenbashi (Turkmenistan), Aktau (Kazakhstan), Astrakhan, Makhachkala, Derbent (Russia).
The “Peter the Great” ship will also be used for cruises connecting the Caspian, Black and Azov seas via a canal.
The Lenin Volga–Don Shipping Canal connects the Volga and Don River (both in Russia) at their closest points. The 101 km canal was opened in 1952, of which 45 km passes through rivers and reservoirs. Together with the lower Volga and the lower Don, the Volga–Don Canal provides the most direct navigable connection between the Caspian Sea and the world’s oceans via the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea.
In winter, “Peter the Great” will move to the Black Sea, where the cruise “Adventure on the Three Seas” will be carried out.
In March 2020, the Peter the Great will move back to the Caspian cruise program and later will start the route “Great Silk Road” from Baku to Moscow.
“Since the second year we plan to work with foreign tourists from all over the world. Already now, according to the Moscow River Shipping Company, Caspian cruises attract tourists from the US, Australia, Europe and China,” said Svetlana Goncharova, Deputy General Director for Tourism of Mosturflot.
“Peter the Great” – five-star hotel in the Caspian sea
The vessel under the project code PV300VD is currently being built at the “Lotus” shipyards and will be delivered to Russian cruise operator “Mosturflot” in 2019.
“Peter the Great” motor ship in the version of the Moscow River Shipping Company is designed for 310 passengers who will travel in comfortable 155 cabins located in a four-storey superstructure: these are 10 suites with balconies ranging in size from 26 to 43 square meters, 121 standard cabins with balconies.
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