A vessel touted as Russia's first modern cruise liner but hit by repeated delays has been sent back to the shipyard for more work.
Construction began on Pyotr Velikiy (Peter the Great) in 2016 at the Lotos shipyard in the southern Russian city of Astrakhan. The project was supposed to take two years.
The vessel has been described by state news outlet RIA Novosti as Russia's first liner in the post-Soviet era. It shares its name with the battlecruiser that is the flagship of Russia's Northern Fleet.
However, completion of the four-deck 141-meter (462ft) long cruise liner has been repeatedly postponed. The Pyotr Velikiy has been described in the Russian media as a "floating hotel" that will have 155 cabins, restaurants, spas, gyms and a swimming pool.
State news agency Interfax said the ship should have been launched in April 2019 but there were delays due to technical problems at the shipyard and a series of redesigns. The construction process was also hampered by the COVID pandemic.
The liner's maiden voyage for tourists has been put back to 2024, local news outlet Lotosgtrk.ru reported on Wednesday. It said the Pyotr Velikiy had been sent back to the Astrakhan Shipbuilding Production Association for "further completion."
"There it will be tested until the end of 2023, and they plan to put it into operation by the next tourist season," the news outlet added.
Anatoly Mishanov, head of UTSS, part of Russia's United Shipbuilding Corporation, said the cruise liner would be given to its customer Mosturflot next year.
Newsweek has emailed Mosturflot, the Moscow River Shipping Company, for comment.
"The main construction phase has been completed," Mishanov told Interfax. "The vessel is ready for sea trials. The ship's systems will be tested in several stages and will last until December this year."
The vessel can take up to 310 passengers to cruise the Volga, Caspian, Azov and Black Seas. It will call at Aktau in Kazakhstan, Turkmenbashi in Turkmenistan, the Azerbaijani capital of Baku, as well as Makhachkala in Russia's Dagestan region.
"Ships of this class have not been built in Russia for more than 60 years," Astrakhan governor Igor Babushkin told state news outlet Russia 1, adding that its construction could lead to similar vessels being built at local shipyards and support the development of cruise tourism in the region.
The governor added that partners from Iran, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan were looking at providing cruise routes for the vessel.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Brendan Cole is a Newsweek Senior News Reporter based in London, UK. His focus is Russia and Ukraine, in particular ... Read more
