The Chairman of Azerbaijan Caspian Shipping Company (ACSC), Rauf Veliyev, and the General Director of OJSC Moscow River Shipping Company (MRSC), Konstantin Anisimov, signed a memorandum of cooperation in cruise shipping in the Caspian region, with the use of the new cruise vessel ‘Peter the Great’.
The agreement, signed during the visit of the Russian delegation to Baku, provides for joint activities on study and development of optimal routes for cruise passenger vessels, such as ports of the Black Sea – inland waterways of the Russian Federation – Astrakhan – ports of the Caspian Sea; Moscow-Baku; Astrakhan – Makhachkala – Baku; Baku-Anzali- Nowshahr -Turkmenbashi-Aktau-Astrakhan and others.
Namely, shipping companies of the two countries will conduct preparation of joint investment projects, including joint exploitation of the ‘Peter the Great’ cruise passenger liner and the construction of new cruise vessels for the development of sea tourism along the planned routes.
Further, ACSC and MRSC will join forces to develop the coastal infrastructure to organize cruise tours – including berths, border posts, customs and sanitary control, bunkering and supply, and to optimize port charges and share experience of mutually beneficial cooperation.
In view of the great opportunities of tourism of Baku as highlighted by Mr. Anisimov, this project is expected to attract tourists from the EU countries, USA, Australia, China and other regions of the world.
According to the signed memorandum, by the end of 2019, the sea tours of ‘Peter the Great’ will start in Baku. Initially the tours will be carried out on the route Astrakhan-Baku, but from 2020 it will pass through other Russian cities. The construction of the first cruise liner in the Caspian Sea is underway at the Russian shipyard “Lotos” in Astrakhan.
