Russian economic centers are located far from the coasts. In addition, our country has an obsolete merchant fleet and an underdeveloped port infrastructure.
We don't need Emma
In total, 1130 sail across the seas and oceans Russian courts with a total deadweight of 5.7 million tons. Of these: 215 tankers, 718 dry cargo ships, 28 bulk carriers, 27 chemical carriers, 35 oil and ore carriers, 11 roro ships, 7 tankers. The tonnage of the Russian fleet is approximately 1.5% of the world. In terms of carrying capacity, the Russian fleet is only 19th in the world.
The merchant fleet of the Russian Federation - 1130 ships, of which only 430 sail under the Russian flag.
All of them sail under the flag of the Russian Federation, but only 430 ships are controlled by the state. 60% of ships fly the flags of convenience of Liberia, Malta, Cyprus and Panama. The number of ships under the Russian flag is decreasing, while under flags of convenience it is growing. Imported marine transport services cost Russian cargo owners $10-15 billion annually.
Most Russian ships have gone beyond the age of competitiveness, which for the navy does not exceed 15 years. During this time, ships in the world have become larger and more technologically advanced: they have become different. There are no or almost no modern container ships, ships with horizontal loading, lighter carriers (transportation of goods in lighters, barges). However, they are hardly needed. The specifics of the cargo fleet of the Russian Federation is determined by the nature of the cargo.
For example, there are few container ships in Russia: only 0.3% of the world's container fleet.
On the one hand, this is bad. After all, all developed economies operate with container ships, more precisely, super-container ships.
Container ships account for almost 1/3 of sea freight (in total, sea accounts for 80% of all freight in the world, in the Russian Federation - 60%, and if there were 80%, then goods would be cheaper). The capacity, the size of container ships, is constantly growing and now monsters plow the oceans, the dimensions of which are hard to imagine if you don’t see it yourself.
If by the beginning of the 1990s the capacity of a container ship of 2-4 thousand TEU seemed very large, now even Panamax-class vessels (294 m long, 32.3 m wide with a draft of 12.04 m, capacity 7 thousand TEU) are considered medium. Because in 2006 A.P. Moller-Maersk Group built the container ship Emma Maersk (length - 396.8 m; width - 56 m; draft - 13.7 m; capacity - 12 thousand TEU). "Emma" no longer climbed into the Panama Canal, so the Suez Canal had to be deepened. By 2016 Moller-Maersk Group will build ships for 16-18 thousand containers.
The margin for cargo transportation by sea is about 2%. By rail - 10%.
Large ships have advantages in fuel economy: up to 40%, if we compare the consumption with the tonnage of cargo, then the benefit is huge. The maritime shipping surcharge is 2%, while railway- up to 10%, and about 25% by cars. That's what Russia needs! But if you think about it, when was saving for Russia an important task?
And most importantly, the desire to have a fleet of super-container ships will entail the need to build modern ports, large-scale dredging, expansion of channels, estuaries, water areas, the creation of giant container sites, logistics centers, it will be necessary to train personnel, create a system educational institutions, re-profiling production for the needs of maritime trade. Most importantly, 75% of Russia's external cargo turnover is raw material exports. And for the import of foreign container ships is enough.
Cargo, fleets and ports
First of all, exports are dominated by crude oil - 55% of shipments. In the structure of export dry cargoes, the share of coal is 34%, metals - 16%, mineral fertilizers - 8%, timber cargoes - 6%. In imports, dry cargoes account for 99.3%, while 50% of imported dry cargoes are containers.
Due to the overwhelming predominance of raw materials in exports, 75% of cargo is transported by tramp shipping (non-regular transportation of passing cargo), and not by liner shipping. Therefore, the largest carrier companies carry out tramp transportation.
Of the companies involved in liner shipping, we can name the FESCO transport group, which owns a fleet of 32 container ships with a total capacity of 28 thousand TEUs and a fleet of 5 ro-ro vessels with a total capacity of 2.7 thousand vehicles. The FESCO Trump fleet consists of 39 ships - bulk carriers, icebreaking transport ships, ro-ro ships and timber carriers.
Russian fleet-owning companies are mainly engaged in tramp shipping.
The remaining large Russian fleet owners operate mainly with tankers. PRISCO's fleet consists of 20 tankers and 1 bulk carrier. The fleet of the Novoship Group (OAO Novorossiysk Shipping Company) consists of 48 tankers of various classes and one bulk carrier. Lukoil has a fleet of 55 tankers, Norilsk Nickel owns 8 bulk carriers, oilmen TNK-BP control a small fleet of tankers, Rosneft also has a few tankers, Sovcomflot, the main carrier of hydrocarbons, has a fleet of 59 vessels. The listed companies are mainly engaged in tramp shipping.
As for the port infrastructure, it is quite sufficient for the current state of the Russian merchant fleet, although for the scale of the country is unlikely. Therefore, new terminals are being actively built in many ports, however, they are intended for the same transshipment of raw materials.
In total, there are 11 large ICCs in the Russian Federation, approximately 50% of cargo is handled in the ports of the near abroad: Odessa, Ventspils, Tallinn, Klaipeda.
At the end of 2012, the cargo turnover of Russian seaports amounted to 565.5 million tons, which is 5.6% more than in 2011.
The indicators of transshipment of dry cargo increased by 7.3%, containers by 8.3%, transshipment of liquid cargo increased by 4.3%; In 2012, 446.2 million tons of cargo were transshipped in export cargo, which is 8.9% more than in 2011, and 47.4 million tons of import cargo, which is 6.2% more than in 2011.
Up to 90% of goods from China are exported by sea.
Chinese Navy
Comparing the Russian merchant marine with the Chinese is incorrect. And that's why. For the PRC, the merchant fleet is very important, it keeps export power. It was the merchant fleet that to a large extent contributed to the fact that the Celestial Empire became the flagship of the world economy. Up to 90% of China's foreign trade cargo is transported by sea, and up to 83% of oil is imported.
Data on the size of China's merchant fleet varies from source to source. This is due not only to the traditional secrecy of statistical data in quasi-communist countries, but also to the fact that the PRC fleet is large and diverse; the calculation can be done with or without Hong Kong figures. Hong Kong itself is a powerful maritime metropolis with a huge merchant fleet. But more on that another time.
The Celestial Empire created and built up a merchant fleet almost from scratch and built it up to a huge scale. This was facilitated by the rapid expansion of cheap Chinese goods, growing imports of raw materials and an incredible length of coastline. On water transport accounts for 90% of China's foreign trade, including 95% of imported oil and 99% of metals. As in many sectors, state-owned companies dominate China's shipping industry. And although officially they do not always have preferences, informally this is a very "toothy" lobby. The Brazilian mining giant Vale, which bought the world's largest bulk carriers Valemax, felt it first hand.
Alexandra Vasiltseva
At the dawn of the economic miracle
China is the second largest economy in the world, largest exporter and the world's second largest importer. It also has a 14,000-kilometer coastline with more than a hundred bays and 20 deep-sea harbors, most of which never freeze.
Just as the economy of the Celestial Empire cannot be imagined without foreign trade, so the country's foreign trade cannot be imagined without shipping. Sea freight from China is the cheapest in the world. This, along with inexpensive labor force and favorable climate played an important role in the development of Chinese industry. Goods produced at minimal cost were also cheaply delivered to their destination. Of course, this contributed to the expansion of Chinese goods around the world.
River navigation is also of great importance for the state. Nowadays, more and more industry is moving inland. Maintaining an enterprise in the coastal zone becomes an expensive pleasure. And import raw materials and export finished products The best way is by river transport. It accounts for 60% of Chinese domestic traffic. The total length of the rivers in China is 220 thousand kilometers.
Not surprisingly, China has one of the world's largest merchant fleets, with a combined deadweight of 65 million tonnes, 4% of the world's capacity. And if you add Hong Kong, you get 205 million tons, or 13% of the world's fleet.
However, this was not always the case. When the communists led by Mao Zedong came to power in 1949, the country had virtually no merchant fleet. After a long civil war and the Japanese occupation, the state produced so little goods for the foreign market that it did not particularly need transport.
The situation began to change in the late 1970s, after Deng Xiaoping came to power. He began a series of powerful reforms designed to reduce the role of the government and the public sector in the economy, to give more initiative to private entrepreneurs. Foreign direct investment went into the country, cheap goods began to be produced, and a need arose for mass foreign trade transportation.
In 1961, the state-owned China Ocean Shipping Company (COSCO) was established, first buying two old ships. By 1970, it already owned 25 ships with a total capacity of 200 thousand tons, by 1978 - more than 100 ships with a capacity of 324 thousand tons. True, 85% of the fleet remained old - the age exceeded 20 years.
An important milestone came in 1985 when the company bought 6 container ships from Maersk. These ships were in demand. Already in the 1990s, a boom in container transportation began. In 2002, Chinese ports overtook the United States in container handling, becoming the first in the world in this indicator.
This was facilitated by an important economic event that occurred in 1994. Beijing made one of the most successful currency moves in history by mothballing the yuan at 8.27 against the US dollar. In order to maintain this rate, the state accumulated foreign exchange reserves, that is, did not fully bring the received dollar proceeds to the market. Thus, the yuan did not rise in price against the US dollar, remaining stably cheap. This stimulated export-oriented growth and provided additional competitive advantages national goods. In the 90s, the expansion of Chinese products around the world began. Naturally, maritime transport also grew.
China abandoned the hard fixing of the exchange rate only in 2005, establishing a currency corridor that allows fluctuations of no more than 0.3% per day (today the exchange rate is 6.25 yuan per US dollar).
At present, in terms of the number of shipowners with Chinese citizenship, the merchant fleet of the Celestial Empire is the third in the world. How was this achieved?
Oil and money
Modernization of maritime transport began in the second half of the 90s. Prior to this, low carrying capacity and great age courts. Thus, the average deadweight of a vessel was 18.5 thousand tons, although for world practice the average value was 23.6 thousand tons.
In theory, Chinese carriers were supposed to buy new ships built at national shipyards. However, both industries required serious investments. Therefore, one of the first steps taken by the government as part of the reform was the admission of foreign investors to the capital of carriers and stevedores. At the same time, a Chinese company (most often state-owned) remained a controlling stake, and citizens of the PRC should have been at the head of the enterprise. An exception was made only for individual cases, such as the opening of specialized new transportation lines.
In 1998, foreigners were also allowed to cabotage. For foreign and national companies unified tariffs for natural monopolies were established, and the procedure for refueling ships with water and fuel was unified. At the same time, the current control restrictions remained even after China's accession to the WTO in 2001. It still exists: the share of a foreign participant cannot exceed 49%.
However, foreign carriers themselves are allowed to transport Chinese goods, that is international companies; to transport containers from Shanghai, you do not need to look for local partners. However, there are industries where the participation of foreign companies is not welcome - for example, the import of crude oil into China. There is an approach that is succinctly described by the words: China’s oil shipped by Chinese companies (“Chinese oil is transported by Chinese companies”). At the moment, shipowners from the Middle Kingdom own 70 supertankers out of 633 existing in the world, which is more than 10%, and another 27 supertankers have been ordered.
What preferences do Chinese carriers have? First of all, it is access to cheap financing. Thus, the financing of the Chinese merchant marine is one of the priorities of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC). Over the past 10 years, the bank has issued more than $10 billion in low-cost loans to the shipping and shipbuilding industries. The loans enabled the construction of more than 300 ships.
In particular, the bank provides loans to carriers secured by ships in operation. An important direction is loans for the construction of giant tankers for the transportation of oil and gas. For this, the contract is concluded between the future owner of the vessel, the oil or gas company (the supplier of raw materials) and the bank. In addition, ICBC provides funds to finance lease payments and the ongoing operations of carriers.
The Bank of China also plays a significant role. As of the end of 2009, the total volume of loans issued to the shipbuilding and shipping industries exceeded $12 billion. And the volume of concessional loans in the portfolio of the state-owned COSCO at the same time was 42.2 million yuan (about $7 billion).
Game not by the rules
At the beginning of 2012, the Brazilian mining company Vale was waiting for an unpleasant surprise: The Ministry of Transport of the People's Republic of China has actually banned the entry of giant dry cargo ships Valemax into all ports of the Celestial Empire. Western media sources claimed that this decision The regulator was lobbied by the state-owned company COSCO, and personally its head, Wee Jiafu, is a prominent figure in the Communist Party of China and a member of many near-state associations.
The prehistory of what is happening is as follows. The iron ore supplied to China by Brazil's Vale has often been uncompetitive against Australian and Indian products, which require less transportation costs. The way out for Vale was the construction of giant dry cargo ships Valemax, one and a half times greater in capacity than the nearest competitors (deadweight - 400 thousand tons, length - 366 meters).
The mining company invested $2 billion in the construction of superbulk carriers. The order placed in 2008 was 35 units, 24 of them were built at Chinese shipyards (the rest - at Korean ones). The state-owned banks Export-Import Bank of China and Bank of China, which provided loans for $1.3 billion, participated in the financing.
The first superbulk carrier arrived at the Chinese port of Dalian in December 2011. The entire cargo - 350 thousand tons of iron ore concentrate - was unloaded in 55 hours, which became a world record. The move was supposed to drive down costs for the Chinese steel industry, analysts said.
However, a month later, the Ministry of Transport of the PRC expressed concern about the ability of ports to safely receive giant bulk carriers. Soon a circular appeared, actually forbidding the entry of these ships into the ports of the Celestial Empire. At the same time, the China Shipowners' Association said that Valemax is "an example of monopoly and unfair competition that harms the interests of not only mainland China, but also South Korea, Japan and Taiwan."
Sources close to Chinese officials and the shipbuilding industry claimed that the state-owned company COSCO lobbied for the ban. “The moment companies like Vale decide to build their own ships, they step on the lawn of giants like COSCO and begin to gradually reduce their business to nothing,” explained Ralph Lezzhinsky, head of research at Banchero Costa. “It is understandable and natural that COSCO is unhappy when a former client becomes a competitor.”
It can be argued that Valemax were built mainly in Chinese shipyards. However, the main order went to China Rongsheng Heavy Industries Group Holdings Ltd, this private company, which does not have such influence in the corridors of power as the state-owned COSCO.
For Vale, what happened was a serious blow. Global business development director Mendez Faria tried to prove that Valemax's transportation does not have a significant impact on the business of Chinese carriers. Ralph Lezzinski agrees with this, believing that COSCO operates in such a large number of market segments that transportation iron ore from Brazil is just a drop in the ocean for her. Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff even intervened in the conflict, raising the issue of Valemax during meetings with Chinese authorities.
However, for the time being, nothing helped. Vale had to transship ore less than large ships in Philippine ports, which, of course, affected costs. The parties reached an agreement only in September 2014. It looks, to put it mildly, not in favor of Vale. The company transfers ownership of four Valemax to COSCO, which is building ten more. And then Vale leases all fourteen ships for 25 years. In parallel, ten more superbulk carriers are being built at state shipyards, they become the property of the state-owned China Merchants Group and are also leased to Vale.
From the point of view of a Russian official or near-state businessman, COSCO pulled off a brilliant combination. Everything is here, as is customary with us: both administrative resources, and a gross violation of competition, and easy money at the exit. The only disadvantages include the following: the economy of the Middle Kingdom in Lately slows down significantly. cheap production moving further and further into Asia, and foreign markets are not going through better times. A new growth driver, analysts say, could be domestic consumption. But for this, the citizens of China must become a little richer. This means that they should become more educated, qualified and, accordingly, highly paid workers. But such transformations do not go well in an economy dominated by state-owned companies and planned, rather than competitive, distribution of orders and income.
Rice. 1. Parameters of the Chinese merchant fleet (million tons)
*Up to and including 2009 as of the end of June; after 2009 - as of the end of December
Maritime News of Russia No. 2 (2015)
MERCHANT NAVY
the totality of the courts of a country, together with their personnel, employed commercial activities. Maritime cargo ships have always been the most important integral part merchant fleet and its main support in the financial sense. Passenger liners did not stop attracting people, but in general, for society, the transport of passengers has always been of less importance than the transport of goods. Numerous and varied ships of the merchant fleet differ in type and purpose. The total number of ships in the merchant fleet is also very large because it includes not only ships long-distance navigation, but also many of those small vessels that serve the waters of rivers, harbors and the sea coast. The merchant fleet - in the broad sense of the term - includes not only ships and seafarers, but also numerous coastal services: operational management bodies, repair and bunkering enterprises, marine insurance agencies and much more, in addition to shipyards, docks, berths and warehouses.
SAILBOATS COLUMBA - "Nina", "Pinta" and "Santa Maria" - in search of India.
Merchant ships, unlike military ones, are usually owned by private owners, whose position is relatively independent (sometimes the state owns part of the country's merchant fleet and manages its activities, but this is the exception rather than the rule). All modern maritime vessels have a national status, which is symbolized by the flag that flies over each vessel. Raising the flag implies the presence of official ship documents and a register certificate. National status entails both privileges and duties. It allows you to enlist the naval or diplomatic support of your own and friendly states in different parts of the world, but it also gives the government the right to dispose of private ships in emergency circumstances, and under normal circumstances to extend state regulations to them and to the conditions of their operation. These norms include requirements for the national composition of the crew, for checking the qualifications of the crew and attesting the command staff. Modern merchant ships can be divided into two categories, each of which has its own merits. Vessels of one category (liners), which includes most of the best ships, operate on certain lines, and voyages between ports on these routes are made at regular intervals. Another category consists of the so-called. tramps - vessels serving irregular cargo flows. After the Second World War, significant changes took place in maritime transport. Although the number of ships capable of taking on board more than 1000 tons of cargo increased only by 34% in the post-war years, the total tonnage of the merchant fleet of the countries of the world doubled, and the average deadweight jumped from 6300 to 9400 tons. The number of national flags increased sharply. The expansion of the national composition of the world merchant fleet has led to a decrease in the proportion of former leaders in it shipping. Although the total tonnage of the total British and Scandinavian ships increased from 32 to 47 million tons, its share in the total tonnage of the world merchant fleet fell from 40 to 29%. At the same time, the US share increased from 14% to 20%. An innovation in the merchant fleet of the 20th century. the practice of what is known as "flags of convenience" or "uncontrolled fleets" became common. Usually the flag above the vessel and the name of its home port indicate to whom it belongs and in whose legal sphere it operates. Maritime law was created on the basis of certain measures of responsibility and control on the part of states over their merchant fleet. In order to elude such control, and at the same time save on taxes and crew costs, new "fake" fleets appeared. These fleets arose precisely from those countries that in reality never had their own "legitimate" maritime transport, and many ships flying the flags of these states never called at the ports whose names are written on their stern. It began in the autumn of 1922, when the US Attorney General extended the Prohibition with all its amendments to all ships flying the US flag. This stopped the wholesale alcoholic supplies of two large liners that made voyages in the Caribbean. The solution was found when someone came up with the idea to launch these ships under the Panamanian flag. Later, the Panamanian flag was used by other ships, especially American tankers, so as not to spend money on high salaries for the crew, and during the war it turned out convenient way for evading government regulations and navigation in areas closed to maritime traffic. Thanks to this, by the beginning of World War II, the total carrying capacity of the Panamanian merchant fleet, which numbered 130 of its own ships, reached 1106 thousand tons. After the war, this fleet became even larger, but in 1949 it suddenly had a formidable rival. The government of Liberia has given one of the American companies the pre-emptive right to the wide sea transportation of goods. At the same time, Liberia received a welcome increase in its budget from tolls, and American company- a generous "fee for services" to handle specific cases in New York. For 10 years, the Liberian merchant fleet has become the third largest in the world; it became 1018 vessels with a total carrying capacity of 18,387 thousand tons, and Panama was pushed to sixth place. By 1959, the German merchant fleet had far surpassed the total volumes that were characterized in 1939. The Japanese, whose large merchant fleet was also destroyed, by 1959 also managed to exceed its pre-war level in terms of the total tonnage of their ships, and in 1994 they reached seventh place among the merchant fleets of the world and built 243 out of a total of 630 new ships.
Between 1939 and 1959, the number of tankers in the world almost doubled (the number of registered oil tankers increased from 1661 to 3307 units), and their total tonnage more than tripled (total deadweight changed from 16,915 to 57,629 thousand tons). In the future, the oil fleet grew even faster. The efficiency of tankers has been constantly increasing, since the larger the size of the tanker, the more economically profitable it is to operate, which distinguishes oil tankers from other types of bulky transports. Another post-war innovation was the increase in the number of ships carrying bulk cargoes such as coal and ore. Already in 1959, the merchant fleet of the world numbered 940 bulk carriers with a total carrying capacity of 9058 thousand tons. Bulk carriers up to 300 m long and with a carrying capacity of more than 60 thousand tons were built.
At the end of the 20th century Large container carriers with a horizontal method of loading - unloading of the Ro-Ro type and lighter carriers have become widespread, providing reloading in the road with their own means with an increase in the productivity of cargo operations by several times.
see also
VESSELS OF RIVER AND COASTAL NAVIGATION;
HARBOR.
Collier Encyclopedia. - Open Society. 2000 .
See what "COMMERCIAL FLEET" is in other dictionaries:
- (Mercantile marine, merchant shipping) see Commercial fleet. Samoilov K.I. Marine Dictionary. M. L.: State Naval Publishing House of the NKVMF USSR, 1941 Merchant Navy See Transport ... Marine Dictionary
MERCHANT NAVY- the totality of the courts of the country, together with their personnel, engaged in commercial activities. Marine cargo ships have always been the most important part of the T.f. and its main financial support. Passenger liners did not stop attracting ... ... Legal Encyclopedia
A set of vessels used for non-military maritime activities. nature: for the transportation of goods, passengers, luggage, mail, for fishing and other crafts, mining, towing, icebreaking and rescue. operations and... Big encyclopedic polytechnic dictionary
MERCHANT NAVY- a set of ships of all types used for the transport of people and goods, servicing navigation, mining, fishing and other economic activity people who are not of a military nature. The basis of the merchant fleet is ... ... Marine encyclopedic reference book
- ... Wikipedia
- (Merchant navy) a set of transport, fishing and other vessels of any state. A more correct term is the civilian fleet. Samoilov K.I. Marine Dictionary. M. L .: State Naval Publishing House of the NKVMF of the USSR, 1941 ... Marine Dictionary
Cargo transshipment complex in Massandra Yalta port is a commercial seaport on the southern coast of Crimea. In the center of Yalta there is a passenger complex, to the east in Massandra there is a cargo-passenger complex. Port points and berths for ... ... Wikipedia
FLEET, fleet, husband. (Dutch. flot). 1. The totality of military or merchant ships of a country (or some kind of organization). Military navy Soviet Union. Military fleet. Merchant navy. English fleet. River fleet. “And he went to meet the grandfather of the whole ... ... Dictionary Ushakov
TRADING, trading, trading. 1. adj., by value. associated with the organization and conduct of trade. Trading capital. Trading profit. Commercial law. Trade policy. Trade agreement. Reseller. 2. Engaged in trade, one where ... ... Explanatory Dictionary of Ushakov
United States Navy (USN) US Navy Emblem of the US Department of the Navy Year of formation Country USA ... Wikipedia
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The Merchant Marine is a collection of ships with personnel currently engaged in commercial activities.
The purpose of the merchant marine
The department is responsible for the following tasks:
- observance of peace and maintenance of military order;
- protection of territorial maritime borders;
- protection of national interests of citizens.
In addition to the main ones listed above, there are secondary, but no less important tasks that the merchant fleet is involved in.
During the existence of the freight structure has played an important role in the formation economic condition countries, being financial support states.
The fleet is the backbone of shipping. Today, the merchant fleet includes not only vessels and ships of long-distance voyage, but also small water transport. Small vessels are engaged in servicing the sea coast and water area.
What boats are part of the merchant fleet
Except big and small Vehicle, the country's merchant fleet also includes:
- organizations and enterprises engaged in repair and towing works;
- operational management bodies;
- marine insurance agencies;
- centers Maintenance sea bunkers, shipyards, moorings.
The merchant marine is a subdivision, for the most part belonging to private structures. Thus, their activities are carried out independently of the leadership of the head of state. But there are cases when the head of the republic interferes in the activities of the merchant fleet.
How to recognize a merchant ship
A floating facility automatically acquires the status of an official maritime transport if the country's national flag is displayed on it. This is a symbol of the status of a sea vessel.
The state flag hoisted on the ship implies that the ship is officially registered in the register of marine navigation facilities, has a certificate confirming this and a full package of ship documents.
Due to the national status, the ship receives privileges in the form of diplomatic support not only of the ruling state, but also of neighboring friendly countries. The government has the full right to dispose of the private ships of the merchant fleet in case of emergency.
The Merchant Marine is a subdivision whose management and operation are subject to state regulations.
In the first half of the XIX century. The basis of progress in science, technology, and economics was the use of a new type of energy - steam energy. The further development of the fleet was due to achievements in the field of metallurgy and rolled metal. Especially - the invention of armor plates for use in iron shipbuilding
IN early XIX V. in Russia began the construction of steam ships. The first such vessel in Russia, the Elizaveta, was designed and built in 1815 by Karl Byrd, the owner of an iron and copper foundry in St. Petersburg. With only 4 liters. With. power, the machine gave the steamboat (as the steamboat used to be called) a speed of about 9 miles per hour.
Russia's first steam ship "Elizaveta"
In 1823, about a dozen steamboats were built on the Volga, including those with two machines with a total capacity of up to 40 hp. With. And in 1843, in St. Petersburg, a steamship company "On the Volga" was formed, which had several steamships with machines of 250-400 hp. With. capacity ("Volga", "Hercules", "Samson", "Kama", "Oka", etc.), dozens of heavy barges. This society lasted until 1918.
Diesel ships
In 1903, the Sormovsky plant in Nizhny Novgorod built the first diesel motor ship for the Volga Shipping Company - a self-propelled tanker barge "Vandal" with a displacement of 1150 tons, with three diesel engines of 120 liters each. with., and diesel-electric transmission to the propellers. "Vandal" became the world's first diesel ship and diesel-electric ship at the same time.
The first motor ship in the world is the Vandal oil barge.
By 1913 in different countries There were more than 80 diesel ships in the world, 70 of them were in Russia. As for steamships, by 1913, through the efforts of all six shipping companies of the country and the government, their number was increased to 1016 (with a total displacement of 487 thousand tons), and sailboats became 2577 (257 thousand brt). The Russian fleet ranked 8th in the world after the fleets of England, Germany, the USA, Norway, France, Japan, and Italy. At the same time, own steamships, accounting for 65% of the commercial fleet of Russia, could provide only 8% of sea freight.
Creation of the Russian Society of Shipping and Trade (ROPiT)
In January 1856, the adjutant wing N.A. Arkas and well-known entrepreneur-shipowner N.A. Novoselsky. They proposed to create a commercial shipping line on the Black Sea. joint stock company with a large number of modern steamships for cargo and passenger traffic At the same time, they specified that in the event of war, these ships could be used for the military transport needs of the country.
On August 3, 1856, Emperor Alexander II approved the Charter of the ROPiT ( Russian Society shipping and trade). Thus was born what later became the largest Russian shipping company.
By 1860, the Society had more than 40 steamships, and 30 of them had great prospects: all of them were in operation for no more than 3 years.
Steamer ROPiT "Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna" stands at the pier in Saratov.
Approximately 1910 (Photo from the archive of Alexei Platonov)
Since 1863, the Society, replenishing the composition of the fleet, began to build new screw post-passenger steamers and wheeled cargo-passenger ships of mixed navigation. In addition to Lazarev, Kornilov, Nakhimov, Chikhachev, Grand Duke Mikhail, Grand Duchess Olga and General Kotzebue, by 1870 another 11 steam schooners were commissioned for cargo transportation across the Sea of Azov.
With the construction of the Suez Canal (1869), new prospects opened up, and ROPiTa ships began to go to India, China, Far East(Vladivostok).
Creation of the "Volunteer Fleet"
In the period 1873–1883. sharply increased public attention to the needs of the fleet. In this regard, a Society was founded in Moscow to promote Russian commercial shipbuilding (for patriotic donations). The idea of creating the "Voluntary Fleet" society appeared, caused by the results of the Russian-Turkish war of 1878.
All over the country, fundraising was held for an organization that would have fast and capacious ships, allowing them to quickly re-equip and arm them, making them auxiliary cruisers in case of war. About 4 million rubles were collected, and in 1878 the society was created.
First, Dobroflot purchased from the Germans cargo-passenger steamships, which immediately became registered in the navy as auxiliary cruisers: Moskva, Petersburg, Rossiya. Henceforth, a tradition was established: to call all new ships by the name of the centers of the provinces - "Nizhny Novgorod", "Ryazan", etc.
Since 1879, the charter of the Volunteer Fleet society provided for the possibility of using its ships for military purposes in case of war.
The work of Dobroflot began with the transportation of Russian troops from Varna and Burgas, which participated in the Russian-Turkish war of 1878. Then regular flights to the Far East began. Soon the management came to the conclusion that it was necessary not to buy, but only to build ships for society - this is more profitable. True, to build not only at their own factories, but also abroad. The first steamship - "Yaroslavl" according to the drawings of the English cruiser "Iris" was ordered in 1880 in France.
Until 1896, a series of 6 ships of 4500-5600 tons with a displacement came from England to Russia. As a result, before the Russo-Japanese war, Dobroflot moved into second place after ROPiT. Its cargo turnover reached 196,000 tons per year.
Postcards from the early 1910s dedicated to passenger and freight
steamships "Dobroflot": "Simbirsk" and "Ryazan".
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