Nizhny Novgorod, Russia based Krasnoye Sormovo shipyard (a company of the United Shipbuilding Corporation) has laid down the third sea/river cruise ship of Project 00840 Karelia, according to USC. The construction of all the three ships is foreseen by the programme of RF Government on modernization of the river fleet. The lead ship was laid down on 28 April 2023, the second ship in the series – on 26 May 2023.
“A series of three cruise liners will be built on time and with the quality that Sormovo shipbuilders are famous for. The first ship will be handed over to the customer in 2025, the second and the third ones - in 2026. We gained the required competence while building the first domestic cruise ship Mustai Karim of Project PV300, which left the slipway of Krasnoye Sormovo in 2019. As for the interior decoration and the level of comfort for passengers, the new vessels will not be inferior, and in some ways will even surpass the Mustai Karim,” said Mikhail Pershin, General Director of the Krasnoye Sormovo, after the ceremony.
The design was developed by Vympel Design Bureau (a company of USC). Cruise liners of Project 00840 can operate in the Black, Azov, Caspian and White seas (with an ability to call the Solovetsky Islands), in the Gulf of Finland and on inland water ways.
Krasnoye Sormovo PJSC is one of the oldest shipbuilding companies in Russia, founded in 1849. Throughout the 75-year period, more than three hundred submarines and rescue vehicles including 25 nuclear ones have been built and modernized by Krasnoye Sormovo shipyard. Today, Krasnoye Sormovo builds vessels of commercial fleet meeting the requirements of international conventions on reliability and safety.
United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC OJSC) is the largest shipbuilding company in Russia. It was set up in 2007 with 100% federal ownership. The holding comprises about 40 companies and organizations (major shipbuilding and shiprepairing companies as well as leading design bureaus). Currently, USC consolidates the bulk of the domestic shipbuilding complex. The Russian market is the main focus of the state corporation though it also exports its products to 20 countries worldwide.