LLC PetergofEkspress, part of St. Petersburg-based Astramarin Group has placed an order for three passenger ships with LLC Ladoga Transport Works (Shlisselburg, Leningrad region), the Group CEO Andrey Kuznetsov told PortNews.
The cost of each ship is valued about RUB 7 million, the payback period - about 3 years. The Group’s head noted that "a decisive role in the decision to build new passenger ships has played a new 305-th law on measures to support (domestic) shipbuilding and shipping." Astramarin plans to expand by the end of 2012 the Group’s fleet of serial new ships booking 10 more such vessels.
On December 19, the Shlisselburg-based shipbuilder held steel cutting ceremony for the ordered ships. The vessels are scheduled to be launched in May and commissioned in June 1st, 2012 to be operated on rivers and canals of St. Petersburg.