#ARCTIC. #SIBERIA. THIS IS TAIMYR. The main limiting factors for the development of inland waterway infrastructure in various regions of Russia are shallow waters and the lack of berths and specialized shallow-draft fleet.
The prospects for the development of cruise shipping on Russian rivers were outlined by the Vodohod company’s general director Rishat Bagautdinov. The company has already established tours along the Yenisey to Dudinka and successfully practices tours to Taimyr with a stop in Norilsk and the Putorana plateau.
He told the publication Marine News of Russia about the lack of berths on the Yenisey on a cruise over two thousand kilometers long from Krasnoyarsk to Dudinka. At a number of ship ports, passengers have to be transferred onto boats to disembark passengers. However, for now, the unequipped shores create the atmosphere of an expedition when traveling, just as it compensates for the lack of mooring infrastructure when traveling around Lake Baikal, where there are also practically no piers on the lake’s coast.
“There is no cruise shipping in these places because there is no berthing infrastructure. Although there is something to show there – a completely special energy. Berths will appear and businesses will build a fleet for them. It is clear that the government should start this”, said Rishat Bagautdinov.
A number of large Russian rivers in Siberia have a great attraction for tourists. However, working on them places special demands on the fleet, including due to shallow depths. On the Lena, Irtysh, and Amur, for example, there are not enough depths for the cruise ships movement. On the Ob, tourism companies will only be able to fully operate for two to three months, as long as the water level remains sufficient. In order to seriously engage in the cruise tourism development on Siberian rivers with shallow depths, it is necessary to develop new designs of ships with shallow draft, emphasized the Vodohod’s general director.
We previously wrote about the growing demand for expedition cruises. The year before last, for the first time in 76 years, the Yenisey became so shallow that in some places it was possible to cross it on foot.
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Text: Denis Kozhevnikov, Photo: author
