Volga Shipping Company (part of UCL Holding) says that on April 25, 2019 it opened navigation on the Upper Volga. The M/V Dmitry Kalinin and M/V Volga-Don 163 completed transit through Lock No. 13 of the Gorodetsky hydro-engineering complex, Nizhny Novgorod region and set sail to Cherepovets where the vessels will be loaded with a metal cargo.
The first vessel that passed along the channel was the pusher tug Dmitry Kalinin. Volga Shipping recently renamed the former OT-2400 towboat after the Hero of the USSR Dmitry Semenovich Kalinin, the company’s press office said.
Navigation on the Lower Volga, Volzhsky, Volgograd Region and on the Don, Rostov-on-Don opened in late March. During the month navigation period in the southern region, the vessels of Volga Shipping Company has transported about 200 000 tonnes of cargo.
The inland fleet operator will deploy at least 190 dry and liquid bulk carriers in the 2019 navigation season.
JSC Volga Shipping Company founded in 1843 today is one of the biggest inland transport companies in Russia, transporting cargoes along inland waterways of the country. The Company is part of VBTH, a shipping division of Universal Cargo Logistics Holding, international transportation group consolidating a number of Russian rail, stevedoring and logistic companies (the majority stakeholder of VBTH). The division also comprises North Western Shipping Company, V.F.Tanker and Okskaya Sudoverf Shipyard.