Water transport in Russia

Ports

Main article: Ports in Russia

River transport

Main article: Sea and river cruises

River transport in Moscow

Main article: River transport in Moscow

Chronicle

2025: Growth of passenger traffic along the rivers of Russia by 7% to 13 million people

Passenger transportation by river in Russia at the end of 2025 amounted to 13 million people. The indicator increased by 7% compared to the level of 2024. This was announced by the Minister of Transport of the Russian Federation Andrei Nikitin on January 30, 2026.

According to the press service of the Ministry of Transport of Russia, the volume of tourist traffic increased by 28%. Inland water transport remains the most important element of the transport complex of Russia.

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Фото: Freepik

The largest river carriers in Russia:

• Volga Shipping Company (UCL Holding);
• North-West Shipping Company (UCL Holding);
• "Ob-Irtysh River Shipping Company" - a leader in Western Siberia;
• "Yenisei River Shipping Company" - the leader of Eastern Siberia;
• Lensky United River Shipping Company is a key operator in the Far East.

To realize the potential of inland water transport in terms of freight transportation, additional management and organizational decisions are required. According to the Minister of Transport of the Russian Federation Andrei Nikitin, it is necessary to stimulate the growth of cargo flows on inland waterways and increase the share of river transport in the country's total transport balance. The transition to system accounting and digitalization of freight transportation by inland waterways is required, as well as the formation of end-to-end digital monitoring of the transportation process.

Among the priorities of the industry are the renewal of the fleet, the modernization of hydraulic structures and the provision of guaranteed depths of navigation. These tasks are recorded in the national project "Effective Transport System" and require coordinated actions of federal and regional authorities, as well as business.

The Republic of Tatarstan is considered as a starting point for the start of active work on the development of inland waterways. The location of the region on the Volga, a key water artery of Eastern Europe, allows Tatarstan to play a significant role in the development of the North-South international transport corridor^[1]

2024

Reducing the volume of passenger transportation by sea by half to 1.6 million people

In 2024, the volume of passenger transportation by sea in Russia amounted to about 1.6 million people. This is almost half as much as the previous year. Passenger turnover decreased by 13% - to 34.2 million passenger-kilometers. Such data are reflected in the "Forecast of the socio-economic development of the Russian Federation for 2026 and for the planning period 2027 and 2028," published at the end of September 2025.

One of the reasons for the sharp decrease in passenger traffic by sea in the Russian Federation was the closure for civilian shipping of some areas in the Azov and Black Seas. In addition, the negative dynamics is due to the refusal of foreign cruise companies to visit Russian ports in the Black and Baltic Seas. At the same time, passenger traffic is reoriented to inland water or rail transport. Transportation by inland water transport in 2024 increased by 14.2%, to 12.1 million people, passenger turnover - by 7.5%, to 0.7 billion passenger-kilometers.

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Фото: Freepik

At the same time, as noted in the document, in the medium term, the development of infrastructure and fleet, as well as cruise tourism, including the expansion of shipping routes, the introduction of innovations and an increase in the level of comfort of ships, will have a positive impact on the sector. As a result, in 2025, the volume of passenger transportation by sea in Russia is estimated to reach 3.3 million people: this will correspond to an increase of 106% compared to 2024.

The volume of passenger traffic on the sea transport in Russia is estimated in 2028 according to the basic option at the level of 4.6 million people, passenger turnover - 42.5 million passenger-kilometers. In the conservative version, these indicators will amount to 3.3 million people and 39.5 million passenger-kilometers, respectively.^[2]

Rosmorrechflot told how the digitalization of water transport is going on

The digitalization of water transport was discussed on December 19, 2024 at the 42nd meeting of the Council of Heads of Administrations of Inland Waterways Basins of the Federal Agency for Maritime and River Transport, chaired by the head of Rosmorrechflot Andrei Tarasenko.

The participants of the meeting (among them - Deputy Head of Rosmorrechflot Fedor Shishlakov, heads of administrations of basins of internal waterways, captains of basins of internal waterways, employees of structural divisions of Rosmorrechflot and subordinate organizations) noted the introduction of the software and hardware complex "Ship Electronic Journal." It allows you to replace paper logs with digital counterparts, providing quick and convenient filling of the necessary documents with the ability to instantly access information. The technology, according to its developers, will standardize the numerous ship reporting of the technical fleet of various basin administrations.

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Фото: Freepik

Water transport in Russia also uses computer vision, which can recognize dangerous objects from a distance. It is assumed that this development will find widespread use in unmanned vessels.

Another element of the digitalization of water transport in Russia is the use of satellites. This project, in particular, is engaged in. Sitronics

We see from space with such clarity and efficiency that ground infrastructure cannot afford. Relatively speaking, there is no infrastructure in the upper reaches of our northern rivers and it costs billions to stretch it there. The satellite calmly covers this story, and we planned it taking into account the fact that we need to solve such problems, "said Nikolai Pozhidaev, President of Sitronics Group.[3]

Short-term boat rental service launched in Russia

In early April 2024, the Captains company launched the first short-term boat rental service in Russia. For this, a mobile application called AnyCaps has been released. Read more here.

2023: Passenger transportation by water transport in Russia for the year increased by 16% and reached 10.6 million people

At the end of 2023, passenger transportation by inland water transport in Russia reached 10.6 million people. This is 16% more compared to 2022, when this figure was 9.1 million passengers. Such data are provided in the report on the results of the activities of the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation, which TAdviser got acquainted with at the end of November 2024.

Passenger transportation by inland water transport is growing due to the increase in the popularity of river cruises and the start of regular high-speed transportation in the regions of Russia. At the same time, cargo transportation on an annualized basis decreased by 6.1% - from 116.4 million tons to 109.3 million tons. The total length of inland waterways in Russia as of the end of 2023 reached 101.7 thousand km. An annual increase in the throughput of such routes of 2.9 million tons was ensured. The Ministry of Transport says that the development of freight and passenger traffic on inland waterways is of critical strategic importance.

In the field of maritime transport, passenger transportation in 2023 was recorded at 2.7 million people. This is 19.7% less than the previous year, when the figure was estimated at 3.4 million passengers. At the same time, cargo transportation by sea rose on an annualized basis by about 5% - from 841.8 million tons to 883.8 million tons. The capacity of ports in Russia increased by 5.7% year-on-year - from 1286.5 million tons to 1360 million tons. The total number of seaports, including the Mariupol and Berdyansk complexes in the new territories, was 63.

The report also says that by the end of 2023, the level of technical equipment of emergency rescue services in water transport reached 52.5%. As noted by the State Transport Leasing Company (GTLK), in 2023, Russian shipyards handed over 44 units of civilian transport vessels - 18 passenger, 12 barges, nine dry cargo ships and five bulk ones.^[4]

2022

Growth in the number of trips on passenger ships by 5.9% to 9.1 million people

The number of trips by domestic water passenger transport in Russia in 2022 reached 9.1 million people, an increase of 5.9% compared to the previous year. This is evidenced by the data that BusinesStat analysts released in early December 2023.

According to the study, the Russian market for passenger transportation by water transport in 2022 continued to grow after an 11.8% rise in 2021. This growth in analytics of the connection with the increasing popularity of domestic water tourism among the population. Due to limited travel opportunities, sea and river cruises have become an affordable and attractive vacation option for many Russians. In addition, the increase in passenger traffic of water transport in the country was facilitated by a decrease in the availability of air traffic due to the closure of airports in the southern regions of Russia in 2022.

According to experts, a serious decline in passenger traffic in the field of water transport in 2019-2022. Participants in this market were included in the list of the most affected sectors of the economy and were given the opportunity to take advantage of state support. Thanks to the measures taken, a number of significant projects were implemented. An important event was the first construction of the Mustai Karim river-sea cruise ship at Russian shipyards in the history of the country. In addition, the first passenger ship Chaika, which runs on liquefied natural gas, was launched in Tatarstan in 2022, and a pleasure ship equipped with an electric motor was launched in St. Petersburg, the researchers noted.

According to the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation, by the end of 2022, about 1.7 million people were transported on organized excursion and pleasure routes by inland water transport, which exceeds the 2021 figure by more than a third.^[5]

Russia is one of the three countries with the longest coastline

Russia is one of the three countries with the longest coastline, and the sea border of 39.4 thousand km in length is only slightly less than the equator - 40.1 thousand km. The length of inland waterways is almost 101.5 thousand km, according to this indicator, Russia is second only to China (126.6 thousand km).

Russia has transport, providing, commercial and research fleets. For 2022, almost 3.5 thousand sea vessels operate under the Russian flag. For some regions of Siberia and the Far North, water transport is the main way to deliver goods from the "big land."

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