The launch of the Pomorskoe Koltso cruise route was postponed for a year

The launch date of the pilot cruise route "Pomorskoe Koltso" has been postponed to 2026. The ship, which was supposed to participate in the project, was not put into operation due to sanctions, Vedomosti North-West reports, citing the Vodohod shipping company.

The route starts in Moscow and should pass through the waters of the White Sea through Arkhangelsk, the Solovetsky Archipelago and Umba in the Murmansk region. The cruise takes place on the new ship "Nikolay Zharkov" and lasts 15 days.

According to Svetlana Panfilova, Deputy Governor of the Murmansk Region and Minister of Arctic Development and Economy, the agreement on the implementation of the project in 2023 was signed by the heads of the Murmansk and Arkhangelsk regions, heads of cruise companies and tour operators. The ship along the Pomor Ring was planned to be launched in August 2025.

Now the start of the project has been postponed to 2026. According to Bi-port news agency, this is due to the delay in the commissioning of the ship itself due to sanctions restrictions. Nikolay Zharkov is the lead vessel of Project 00840 Karelia.

According to a representative of the United Shipbuilding Corporation, due to the sanctions, it is necessary to redesign the vessel. Difficulties arose in the supply of ship components. Thus, the deadline for the transfer of the lead vessel to the customer is shifted to the fourth quarter of 2025.

At the same time, the prices for travel will remain. The cost of a cruise for 1 person is from 398 thousand to 1.1 million rubles.
The Karelia series of vessels of project 00840 is being built by order of Vodohod at the Krasnoe Sormovo enterprise in Nizhny Novgorod. The lead liner, the Nikolai Zharkov, was laid down on April 28, 2023.

Earlier it was reported that Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Patrushev arrived on a working trip to the Murmansk region, where he met with Governor Andrey Chibis. The main topics of conversation on May 13 were the development of the regional fisheries complex and environmental issues. "The Murmansk Region is one of the most significant regions of Russia in many areas of the economy. The region is known for its mineral deposits, including rare earth metals. The mining industry is well developed, in particular, the extraction and processing of raw materials for the production of phosphorous fertilizers. Metallurgy, the transport sector, and tourism play a significant role," Patrushev said.