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Volga River News

06 Jun 2023

Black Sea Grain Deal Could Hinge on Ammonia Pipeline

© Elena / Adobe Stock

A possible extension next month of a deal allowing the safe wartime export of grains and fertilizers from three Ukrainian Black Sea ports could hinge on the reopening of a pipeline that delivers Russian ammonia to one of those Ukrainian ports.The dealsThe United Nations and Turkey brokered the Black Sea Grain Initiative for an initial 120 days last July to help tackle a global food crisis worsened by Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, one of the world’s leading grain exporters. It has been extended three times since…

12 Jun 2018

Deadly Boat Crash in Russian World Cup Host City

(Photo: Russian Emergencies Ministry)

Eleven people on a river cruise were killed when their boat collided with a tugboat late on Monday in the Russian city of Volgograd, which is hosting matches in the soccer World Cup, rescue services said.Emergencies services received notification at around 10 p.m. (1900 GMT) on Monday that the vessels had collided on the Volga River, about 250 meters from the riverbank.There were 16 people on board the pleasure craft, all of them Russians, the RIA news agency cited the local administration as saying.Five people had been rescued…

02 Apr 2015

56 Dead as Russian trawler Sinks

Trawler with 132 crew sinks in freezing waters; rescue operation seeks missing crew. MOSCOW, April 2 (Reuters) - A Russian trawler sank in icy seas off Russia's far eastern Kamchatka peninsula on Thursday, killing at least 56 of the 132 crew, the emergencies ministry said on Thursday. Sixty-three people were rescued but 13 were still unaccounted for, hours after the Dalniy Vostok fishing vessel sank in the Sea of Okhotsk so quickly that its captain, who drowned, did not manage to send a distress signal. It was not immediately clear why the 26-year-old ship had sunk but a local official said the crew may have violated safety rules by overloading it, affecting its balance. Russia has a long history of road, air and sea disasters, many caused by negligence or violation of safety regulations.

01 Sep 2014

Bulk Equipment is Delivered to Syzran Refinery

A reactor and a cold high-pressure separator is delivered to the site of Rosneft subsidiary Syzran Refinery for the constructed diesel hydro-treater. The unit is designed for the removal of sulphur and nitrogen compounds, as well as of other solids to improve diesel-fuel and to bring its environmental specifications to Euro-5 level. The weight of the reactor is 400 tons, the length is 36 m, and the diameter is 4.5 m. The weight of the cold high-pressure separator is 345.5 tons, the length is 26.5 m, and the diameter is about 4.5 m. The equipment has been delivered by water with the use of marine and river transport. It has made 4 thousand km from Port of Ortona to the Volga river within 45 days.

28 Jul 2014

Private Buyers in Iran Look to Boost Grain Market

One sign of change in Iran as it works toward a nuclear deal with world powers is the way it is feeding itself, with private grain firms beginning a slow return to their traditional role as major food commodity importers. Iran was never barred from buying food under sanctions imposed by the United States and the European Union over Tehran's nuclear activities. But the measures have made trade more difficult for the past two years by hindering payments and ocean shipping, which has left the bulk of the work in the hands of state buyers such as the GTC and SLAL. However, Tehran has won limited relief from the sanctions after agreeing to curtail its nuclear activities…

07 Mar 2014

U.S. Polar Vortex Gives Boost to Cruise Sector

Photo: Carnival

The freezing weather that swept the United States in the first two months of the year led to a surge in cruise bookings as winter-weary holidaymakers headed south to warmer climes. "Many companies have recorded their best booking month ever in January," Christine Duffy, head of trade group Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), told Reuters at the ITB travel trade fair in Berlin. Large parts of the United States have been gripped by freezing temperatures and snow storms since the start of the year as a series of Arctic weather systems swept the country.

29 Oct 2012

Russian Navy Receives New Harbor Tugboat

Russian Harbor Tug RB-259: Photo credit Russian Navy

JSC Astrakhan Ship Repair Plant have built and delivered a new harbor hug to the Caspian Flotilla. Project 705B harbor tug was deigned specially for the Caspian Sea and the estuary of the Volga River. The ship is equipped with up-to-date navigation aids GLONASS, communication and automation equipment. Basic features of the ship is high navigability and shallow draft (0.28 meters) making possible to navigate in shallow waters of the Volga River, the Volga-Caspian Canal, and northern zones of the Caspian Sea. Two 800-shp engines make the vessel capableof towing any ship in the Caspian Flotilla.

09 Oct 2012

An Energy SuperPower

Russia is an energy superpower and the country has vast and rich natural resources. Besides gas and coal reserves (some of the largest in the world), Russia today is ranked as the world’s biggest oil producing nation accounting for well over 12% of the global output. Moreover, the country exports more than 70% of its oil to the world markets. That said, Russia’s output of oil amounts to a third of what collectively the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) produces. The country has relied on oil production for decades, however there has been a notable geographical shift.

27 Dec 2011

Captain Fined For Failing to Help Sinking Ship

According to a report in The Moscow Times, the captain of a vessel that passed by the sinking Bulgaria cruise ship without stopping to help rescue drowning passengers was fined $4,200, but avoided jail time, Interfax reported. A district court in Tatarstan ruled that Yury Tuchin failed to provide help to victims of the July disaster on the Volga River, in which 122 people died when the 55-year-old Bulgaria foundered in a storm. Tuchin, skipper of the dry cargo ship, pleaded guilty, but claimed his actions were rooted in the fear that his ship would crush the lifeboats. The prosecution reportedly sought a jail sentence of 14 months and a ban from working on ships for three years. (Source: The Moscow Times)

12 Jul 2011

Passenger Vessel Safety Under Russian Microscope

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev vowed a complete review of passenger ships after a deadly accident left as many as 129 people dead on an unlicensed cruise vessel, according to a Bloomberg report. Seventy-one bodies have so far been recovered after the July 10 shipwreck on the Volga River and almost no hope remains for finding more survivors from the Bulgaria two-deck river cruise ship. 58 are still missing.   (Source: Bloomberg)

19 May 2011

Wilhelmsen Ships Service Appointments in Russia

Wilhelmsen Ships Service has announced two key appointments in Russia as part of its ongoing programme of global expansion. Alexander Fomin has been appointed Account Manager West Russia and will be based in St.Petersburg, handling customer accounts in St.Petersburg, Moscow and the Volga River regions. Mr Fomin, who qualified at the Russian Far East Maritime Academy department of Engineering, steps up from his role as Port Sales Engineer for the company. His previous experience includes six years at sea as well as an appointment as technical manager for a shipping company.

08 Apr 2009

Impressive Dutch Vessel

If there was a worldwide competition for the most immaculate engine room, it might very well be won by an engine room from the Netherlands. In fact it might even belong to Mr. and Mrs. Van der Stelt whose new vessel, Mon Desir, transports coal along the river system from the German Ruhrgebiet. The 443 ft long hull of the ship was built near the mouth of the Volga River in the JSC 3d International Shipyard in Astrakan Russia. The vessel was completed at the TeamCo Shipyard in Heuden the Netherlands.