Estonian cruise ferry for PEF
Large Estonian shipping company Tallink is to provide its cruise ferry Victoria for accommodation of guests and participants of Petersburg International Economic Forum (PEF). Experts say Russia is to pay at least EUR 1 million for charter of the vessel excluding port charges in St. Petersburg.The decision to use the ferry was taken by the PEF organizers in view of a high demand for high-class hotels in the city. Considering complicated political situation (disfavor of everything Estonian for a number of months in Russia) Estonian flag on the cruise ship is to be temporarily replaced with the flag of forum. The vessel ordered by the organizing party was built in Finland in 2004. According to the information provided by the forum press center, m/s Viktoria has 11 decks, 11 halls of different area for negotiations and round tables, conference center, parking are in the ship’s hold, concert hall for 1000 persons, restaurants and bars for over 1,500 seats, open grounds, casino, saunas and stores. There are rooms of different class at the vessel including penthouses, suites, mini-suites and standard rooms category А and В. According to Aker Finnyards, the ship’s value makes about EUR 150 million.Chartering and agency services are commissioned to Inflot Worldwide St. Petersburg CJSC (St. Petersburg’s largest company specializing in agency services for passenger transportation). According to Igor Glukhov, Director General of the company, the largest ferry in the Baltic Sea will arrive in the Russian port from Sweden on June 8, in the morning, the first day of PEF. Neither organization committee of the forum nor the agency service company reveal the freight costs. Market players say the deal may cost EUR 150 thou per day. Sergei Kukayev, Director General of a ferry center GR-Travel LLC says it may be estimated through assumption. “Average cost per bed makes about EUR 60-100. Considering Victoria can accommodate about 2200 passengers it totals about EUR 135,000-140,000. I think the cost is based on such calculations,” Kukayev says. Other market players say the cost may be higher considering the urgency of the order. Ferries are usually chartered in a year so that the company could change the schedule in advance and coordinate the changes with its contractors in other countries. Besides, there are port charges to be collected from the cruise ferry, which are to be quite high as the highest sum is collected when the ferry calls to the port for the first time in the year, a representative of the port of St. Petersburg says. From June 8 till June 11, the ferry is to be the center of business, social, cultural and night activities of Petersburg International Economic Forum, Iterfax North-West reports. The highest guests of the forum will be accommodated at Victoria including German Gref, RF Minister of Economic Development and Trade, politicians, ministers, world known scientists, businessmen and presidents of largest banks. Petersburg International Economic Forum will take place in St. Petersburg in June 8-10. The forum’s major issues are economic problems of Russia and developing countries.Nadezhda Malysheva