Russia’s Moscow Shipbuilding Yard has laid the keels for four two-deck electric excursion vessels, Moscow’s city transport department said on Thursday, October 8.
The first vessels in the series are scheduled to be launched in 2027. Each vessel will have a length of more than 35 metres, a beam of eight metres, and capacity for up to 168 passengers.
The passengers on each vessel will be accommodated in two saloons with panoramic windows. An open area will be provided on the upper deck.
Maksim Liksutov, Moscow Deputy Mayor for Transport and Industry, said the newbuildings will replace the city's existing excursion vessels over the next 10 years.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said that construction of the first four vessels had begun during the summer and that four more keels will be laid soon. Up to 14 vessels in the series are planned to be launched by the end of 2028.
The new excursion vessel series is intended to gradually replace a fleet that currently comprises more than 160 boats aged 40 years or older.
The city aims to convert its entire river fleet to electric propulsion by 2035. As of August 31, Moscow had 31 electric vessels operating on scheduled routes, serving 25 piers across four routes covering about 34 kilometres.
Sobyanin said cruise, excursion and scheduled river services together carried 4.5 million passenger trips in 2025, the highest total in 30 years. The city's transport strategy projects seven million annual river-vessel trips.
