Loading of General Chernyakhovsky ferry begins following flag-hoisting ceremony
It is the second ship in the series intended for operation in the Baltic Sea
The flag-hoisting ceremony has been held on the General Chernyakhovsky ferry today, 6 October 2022, at the railway ferry complex of Baltiysk in the port of Kaliningrad. Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin and Transport Minister Vitaly Savelyev addressed the ceremony participants via video link. According to FSUE Rosmorport, the ceremony also featured Zakhary Djioev, head of the Federal Marine and River Transport Agency (Rosmorrechflot); Anton Alikhanov, Governor of the Kaliningrad Region; Sergey Pylin, Пeneral Director of FSUE Rosmorport.
Loading of ro-ro equipment began upon completion of the flag-hoisting ceremony.
In his video address, Mikhail Mishustin said that the first voyage of General Chernyakhovsky ferry from the Kaliningrad Region to the Leningrad Region would begin on October 6. He reminded that it is the second ship in the series intended for operation in the Baltic Sea. The lead ship was launched in March 2022.
“Seaborne shipping to Kaliningrad ensures reliable connection of Russia’s western enclave with other regions of the country. That is especially important amid the ban on transit of some cargoes imposed by Lithuania. The fleet expansion lets considerably increase our transport possibilities on the Ust-Luga-Baltiysk line. Each of the new ships can make up to seven round voyages per month. Their capacity is enough for a simultaneous transportation of up to 80 railway cars and also 15 heavyweight units,” said the Prime Minister adding that the key feature of the ferries is their high environmental friendliness. Among other advantages of the ferries he emphasized high performance characteristics and ice class.
According to Vitaly Savelyev, the General Chernyakhovsky and the Marshall Rokossovsky will strengthen the transport link between the Kaliningrad Region and the mainland of Russia. Anton Alikhanov, in his turn, expressed confidence that the new ferry would contribute to the business consistently assisted by the state in the part of reducing logistical costs associated with unlawful restrictions imposed by Lithuania on the land transit.
The General Chernyakhovsky was built by Nevsky Shipyard LLC (a company of United Shipbuilding Corporation, USC) under the order of FSUE Rosmorport in the framework of the state programme “Social and Economic Development of the Kaliningrad Region”. It is the second in the series of the latest eco-ferries intended for stable transportation between Russia’s westernmost region and the country’s mainland. The first ferry, Marshall Rokossovsky, was put into operation in March 2022.
The innovative ferries have an ice class of Arc4 allowing for independent operation in ice of up to 0.6 meters thick. They meet all the current environmental requirements. The power plant running on liquefied natural gas (LNG) or low-sulphur diesel fuel lets reduce emissions. The ships are also equipped with ballast water treatment systems.
New ‘green’ ferries of Project CNF19M, General Chernyakhovsky and Marshall Rokossovsky, are designed to transport Russian standard railway trains with a gauge of 1520 mm, as well as other ro-ro cargo, including dangerous cargo, and up to 30 reefer containers.
According to earlier publications of IAA PortNews, from October 2022, the Kaliningrad Region and the Leningrad Region will be regularly connected by 13 ships of four operators: railway ferries Baltiysk and Ambal as well as Ro-Ro/Lo-Lo Sparta operated by Oboronlogistics; railway ferries Marshall Rokossovsky and General Chernyakhovsky operated by Rosmorport with Oboronlogistics acting as the general agent; the Ursa Major operated by Rosmorport with TransBusinessConsult acting as the general agent; M/V Kholmogory, M/V Kapitan Mironov and M/V SMP Severodvinsk operated by North-Western Shipping Company; dry cargo carrier Volgo-Balt 203, M/V STK-1004, M/V STK-1019 and M/V STK-1023 operated by Algorithm Group.
The Kaliningrad Region Governor earlier estimated the demand of seaborne transit links with the exclave at 22 ships of the Marshall Rokossovsky type.
Related link:
Traffic volumes on Ust-Luga – Baltiysk ferry line are stable>>>>
Dry cargo carrier Volgo-Balt 203 to operate on Bronka – Kaliningrad line from October>>>>
Photos from the website of FSUE Rosmorport:
