"Bashkir River Shipping Company": history and modernity

"Bashkir River Shipping Company" seizes an important field of activity in the transport complex of Bashkortostan. Its main type of activity is making pleasure and cruise flights on wide rivers: Ufa and Belaya.

The full name of the company is JSC "Bashkir River Shipping Company". Once a company rich in ships, it now serves only a few ships that are rented from tour operators.

History of the Shipping Company

The history of the shipping company originates from August 11, 58 in the 19th century. At that time, to Ufa came two ships ("Fast" and "Terrible"), owned by a merchant Zhuravlev. A year later a passenger report on the rivers was opened by the shipping companies "Olga" and "Askold". The latter went on the route Ufa - Kazan. In the 50 years of the 20th century, the shipping company began to carry out water transport with an excursion purpose. Those who bought a ticket to the ship had the opportunity to see the historical places, sights, cultural centers of Russia right from the ship's side. Visitors could take advantage of the cultural heritage of rivers:

• Moscow;
• White;
• Kama;
• The Volga;
• Don.

Travelers on steamboats became not only Bashkirs, but also the inhabitants of the whole country. Cruises have become quite popular and in great demand. 737 ("Демьян Бедный", "Пришвин", "Джамбул"). Tours began to be organized on the Hungarian courts of Project 737 (Demyan Bednyi, Prishvin, Dzhambul). Shipping on these vessels were a decade.

In the near future, the shipping company received the first motor ships equipped for passenger excursions (Vetluga and Chulym). By the mid-1980s, Hungarian steam ships were finally replaced by new comfortable motor ships.

Accommodation on motor ships

All two-deck ships of the shipping company consist of a boat, main and middle deck. On the main deck are provided luxury cabins. Available single, double, triple and quadruple occupancy in the rooms of increased comfort, in which there is a refrigerator, air conditioning, own shower and toilet.

Standard rooms on the middle deck have accommodation from double to quadruple. In the rooms there is a washbasin, a wardrobe and beds. The superior cabins have a TV, air conditioning and in-room amenities.

Profitability of the shipping company

The company "Bashkir River Shipping Company" (Ufa) was engaged in three types of directions:

• excursions;
• Passenger Transportation;
• Trucking.

Among these activities, river cruises were the most unprofitable. Therefore, at the end of the 1990s, the management of the shipping company decided to lease its vessels to travel companies. In 2003, the old Ufa-Moscow-Ufa line was closed, and new routes were added to the navigation.

The wreck of 2011

In the summer of 2011, the steamer "Bulgaria" crashed near the village of Syukeyevo on the Volga River. Although the ship belonged to the Kama region, the situation still significantly worsened the position of the Bashkir shipping company. The crew of 211 people crashed, but only 79 people managed to escape. The weather conditions (thunderstorm wind) and wrong turn of the steering wheel, and maybe the malfunction of the ship, led to an accident and a great tragedy. Subsequently, passengers began to be wary of river cruises. Demand for tours for the year decreased by 2.5 times. Thus, by 2013, 6 vessels were no longer in operation:

• "Musa Gareyev";
• "Hero Yuri Gagarin";
• "VM Zaitsev" ;
• "Mullanur Vahitov";
• "Alexander Golovachev";
• "Gabdulla Tukay".

But four more vessels still remained afloat.

Functioning motor ships

Until 2015, the ship "Salavat Yulaev" functioned and was a part of the "Bashkir River Shipping Company". Cruises stopped at the end of the 15th year. In 2016, the only motor ship "Bashkortostan" entered shipping work. In the spring he was arrested, but the ship still went on cruises. By the end of the year, the Bashkir River Shipping Company was seized, and the company actually left the cruise market. But to this day it offers its ships for rent to travel companies.

The vessel of the Ufa shipyard Vasily Chapaev is still operating now, since it has been rented from the company Infoflot since 2004.

Unclaimed ships

находятся без работы. Today the vessels of OJSC "Bashkir River Shipping Company" are without work. These include:

• "Bashkortostan";
• "VM Zaitsev";
• "Hero Yu Gagarin";
• "Gabdulla Tukay";
• "Mullanur Vahitov";
• "Hero Alexander Golovachev";
• "Musa Gareyev";
• "Salavat Yulaev";
• "Fedor Kibalnik."

Steamers are in excellent working order. Concerning their fate, there are two possible outcomes of the situation: sale or solvent tenants.

Sightseeing tours

In general, river tours offered by the shipping company of Ufa have always been in demand among many travelers. The permits could be purchased not only on the official website, in travel agencies, but also on popular discount sites. For a few tens of rubles, travelers have the opportunity to visit many cities of Russia, relax on board the ship, meet new people, get aesthetic pleasure from incredible landscapes, and breathe fresh river air.