Were River Cruise Companies able to get their ships out of Russia?

[Smokeyham]

Just out of curiosity, has anyone heard if non-Russian companies, that offered river cruises in Russia, able to get their ships out of Russia?

[Canal archive]

As far as I understand non of the river cruise companies owned the vessels they used they were leased. I may be wrong. Russia had some strict regulations about what could be or could not be done. It’s such a pity and I will say horrific what has happened apart from anything else Russia is depriving itself of much needed foreign good will and currency and I really wanted to go but I will never get there now, still ite there lose!

[Coral]

Viking is the only company that owned their ships in Russia. My guess is they are still there.

 

All the other lines leased their ships. Vodohod was one large company that I know leased ships to a variety of companies. The ships in Russia left a lot to be desired IMO. Most of them were all built around the same time and looked very similar. There were modifications made in the last 20 years but there was only so much one could do.

Edited February 24, 2023 by Coral

[Host Jazzbeau]

15 minutes ago, Coral said:

The ships in Russia had a lot to be desired IMO.

Left a lot to be desired?

[Coral]

2 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

Left a lot to be desired?

Thanks for correction!

[CCJack]

2 hours ago, Canal archive said:

...... I really wanted to go but I will never get there now,

me too.   The whole thing is so sad on so many levels.   Lets hope and pray that we see some positive developments soon.   

[Smokeyham]

4 hours ago, Coral said:

Viking is the only company that owned their ships in Russia. My guess is they are still there.

Hopefully Viking will be able to get their ships out.

I agree with the earlier comments.... A very sad situation.  I'm glad we got to go in the 1990's.  As was also noted above I suspect we will not have the opportunity to return.

[Canal archive]

Maybe Viking are the only owners because Torstein Hagen founded the company in St Petersburg Russia,  hummmmmmmmm.

 

Ohhhhhh this is wide open for a conspiracy theory! 😂

Edited February 24, 2023 by Canal archive

[steamboats]

The only way to get the ships out of Russia would have been a transport ship out of St. Petersburg for those on the St. Petersburg - Moscow itinerary.

 

Yes, all the ships are Russian owned except for Viking. Those are Russian buildt as well.

 

steamboats

[Coral]

5 hours ago, Smokeyham said:

Hopefully Viking will be able to get their ships out.

I agree with the earlier comments.... A very sad situation.  I'm glad we got to go in the 1990's.  As was also noted above I suspect we will not have the opportunity to return.

Due to their laws - I don't think they will. Their ships were in Russia when they bought them - I believe this is how Viking got started. They bought them cheap. I don't think Viking is suffering by not having them. I don't think they would use them elsewhere either. They most likely will stay there.

Edited February 24, 2023 by Coral

[Coral]

5 hours ago, Smokeyham said:

Hopefully Viking will be able to get their ships out.

I agree with the earlier comments.... A very sad situation.  I'm glad we got to go in the 1990's.  As was also noted above I suspect we will not have the opportunity to return.

I did a land trip in 1988 as part of a large European land trip. So glad I visited during a time when Gorbachev was in charge. One positive moment in Soviet history. I later visited when Medvedev was in charge but really, it was Putin. 

[Roz]

All the Baltic ocean cruise itineraries have obviously dropped St. Petersburg, so what there was of Russia's tourist industry has been decimated. 

 

I took 5 semesters of Russian when I was 60+ and was looking forward to someday visiting there. 

[notamermaid]

17 hours ago, Coral said:

Viking is the only company that owned their ships in Russia. My guess is they are still there.

 

All the other lines leased their ships. Vodohod was one large company that I know leased ships to a variety of companies

According to the list of river cruise ships in German, Vodohod still has most of the ships in Russia. The Viking ships were built before the collapse of the Soviet Union and renamed. I do not know why but they were all built much wider than European ships that were almost all limited to 11,40m as that is the maximum size for the locks. On the Danube downstream you can sail with the wider ships but the age of the Russian fleet and the high presence of Viking with their modern fleet on the other rivers, I would say makes a transport to the Danube economically unwise/pointless.

 

notamermaid

 

[Coral]

5 hours ago, notamermaid said:

According to the list of river cruise ships in German, Vodohod still has most of the ships in Russia. The Viking ships were built before the collapse of the Soviet Union and renamed. I do not know why but they were all built much wider than European ships that were almost all limited to 11,40m as that is the maximum size for the locks. On the Danube downstream you can sail with the wider ships but the age of the Russian fleet and the high presence of Viking with their modern fleet on the other rivers, I would say makes a transport to the Danube economically unwise/pointless.

 

notamermaid

 

A lot of these ships were built in the 70's. Many of them look so similar. 

[steamboats]

Actually most of the Russian river cruise ships were buildt in the former Democratic Republic of Germany (Eastern Germany) at Elbewerft Boizenburg GmbH. They buildt 28 river cruise ships in four different series between 1983 and 2003. Recently two Russian buildt newbuildts entered service. Putin did order those plus some ocean going vessels to build up a Russian cruise industry.

 

steamboats

[Canal archive]

Was it under a Russian logo or a cover?

[Coral]

The one I was on was built in Austria. I know some of the Viking ships were built in Boizenburg, East Germany. The Viking ships were built late 80's and early 90's I believe. 

 

Many of the others have changed names several times - sort of difficult to track.

 

 

Edited February 25, 2023 by Coral

[steamboats]

Yes, @Coral, I remember that there are some buildt in Austria, I think in Kornneuburg (the shipyard is not active anymore but a museum).

 

steamboats

[Coral]

4 minutes ago, steamboats said:

Yes, @Coral, I remember that there are some buildt in Austria, I think in Kornneuburg (the shipyard is not active anymore but a museum).

 

steamboats

It just blows my mind that regardless where they were built - they all look very similar on the outside!! I remember being at the pier in Moscow at midnight returning on our own and there were dozens of ships, most rafted and it was impossible to find our ship as it had moved. Someone in our group had to use the bathroom. I could still read some Russian but due to the rafting of the ships - it was just difficult to find our ship.

Edited February 25, 2023 by Coral

[Smokeyham]

What a lot of great information!  I remember our ship was built in Germany but at the time I didn't consider whether that meant east or west Germany.

 

Good point about the ships being too wide for the Danube and other rivers with locks.

 

The age of the vessels is also a factor, and as been said, likely would not make it worthwhile for Viking to try and move them to other markets (even if they could fit).  

[chengkp75]

Being Russian flagged, the ships are classed by the Russian Maritime Register of Shipping, which is ranked as about the worst classification (by having the highest rate of ships detained in various countries for violations) society around.  These ships would likely either cost a tremendous amount to bring up to standards of other class societies, or would just be financially unsound to do so.

[steamboats]

Here´s an article in German about the new build project in Russia.

 

For Moscow - St. Petersburg two ships have been buildt but finished during the pandemic: Peter the Great and Mustai Karim.

 

A third ship was buildt as a paddlewheeler "The Golden Ring" for a more flexible routing.

 

steamboats

[Canal archive]

Haven’t got the brain in tune properly yet but first impression - what an ugly bow!

[Coral]

3 hours ago, Canal archive said:

Haven’t got the brain in tune properly yet but first impression - what an ugly bow!

OMG - these are huge improvements from previous ships.

 

Still don't recommend the routes unless one is retired. If one is working - it is a waste of vacation time. Several ports we got off for 2-4 hours and that was it. Moscow and St. Petersburg are definitely worth it. I much preferred my land trip that included these cities and we took a train between the two. I could easily skip the cities/towns in-between. The ship was just used as a hotel in Moscow/St. Petersburg but not in a good location. Preferred staying in town instead.

Edited February 26, 2023 by Coral

[steamboats]

4 hours ago, Canal archive said:

Haven’t got the brain in tune properly yet but first impression - what an ugly bow!

 

Pretty common with ocean going vessels too. And on the Moscow - St. Petersburg itinerary they have to cross two very large lakes where it can get stormy.

 

steamboats