Dry bulk carrier Svyatitel Alexei (owner North-Western Shipping Company, St. Petersburg), en route from the Sea of Azov to the Black Sea was the first vessel to pass under the railway arch of the Kerch Strait Bridge once the navigation on the Kerch-Enikal Canal resumed. The master gave a welcome signal while the ship was passing, the Crimean Bridge press office told.
The Valdai project M/V Svyatitel Alexei is a single-deck two-screw vessel of mixed "sea-river" class. The vessel was built at St. Petersburg based Severnaya Verf Shipyard for North-Western Shipping Company and launched in 2003. LOA: 128.2 m, Breadth: 16.7 m, DWT: 5010.
The cargo ship heads the first convoy of nearly 50 vessels led by marine pilots that will transit the Kerch-Enikal Canal after traffic resumption to proceed to the Black Sea.