Black Sea Shipping Company (russian: Черноморское морское пароходство, uk, Чорноморське морське пароплавство) is a Ukrainian

shipping company A shipping line or shipping company is a company whose line of business is ownership and operation of ships. Shipping companies provide a method of distinguishing ships by different kinds of cargo: # Bulk cargo is a type of special cargo that is ...

based in

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

. The company was established during the

Imperial Russia The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the List of Russian monarchs, Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended th ...

n rule in 1833. Following the

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and reorganization of the former empire as a Soviet state, company was owned by the Soviet government. During Soviet rule, the company held the title of world's largest shipping company for several years and was instrumental in important

foreign trade International trade is the exchange of capital, goods, and services across international borders or territories because there is a need or want of goods or services. (see: World economy) In most countries, such trade represents a significant s ...

and

international aid In international relations, aid (also known as international aid, overseas aid, foreign aid, economic aid or foreign assistance) is – from the perspective of governments – a voluntary transfer of resources from one country to another. Ai ...

initiatives of the Soviet government.

History

The company can trace its history to May 16, 1833, when the Black Sea Society of Steamships (ROPiT) was established as means of permanent communications between Odessa and

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

, but the company disappeared after the

Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the de ...

of the 1850s. The company was re-established on June 13, 1922 as Black Sea - Azov Sea Shipping by the

Council of Labour and Defence The Council of Labor and Defense (Russian: Совет труда и обороны (СТО) Sovet Truda i Oborony, Latin acronym: STO), first established as the Council of Workers' and Peasants' Defense in November 1918, was an agency responsible fo ...

as part of the People's Commissariat of Communication Routes and administered by the Central Administration of State Merchant Fleet (Gostorgflot). The Black Sea - Azov Sea Shipping company split into Black Sea Shipping Company, Azov Sea Shipping Company and Georgian Shipping Company after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Another split took place in 1964 when a new company, Novorossiysk Shipping Company, was created from the tanker division of the Black Sea Shipping Company. Azov Sea region management of Black Sea Shipping Company was created in Zhdanov in 1953. Azov Sea region management was reorganized in Azov Sea Shipping Company in 1967. It is why some ships of Black Sea Shipping Company ships were handed over changed to Azov Sea Shipping Company and home port was changed from Odessa to Zhdanov. So, two sister ships ''Nezhin'' and ''Smela'' were transferred to Azov Sea Shipping Company in 1969 or in 1967. In 1990, Black Sea Shipping was the biggest one in Europe among other shipping companies and the second in whole world. With the

fall of the Soviet Union The dissolution of the Soviet Union, also negatively connoted as rus, Разва́л Сове́тского Сою́за, r=Razvál Sovétskogo Soyúza, ''Ruining of the Soviet Union''. was the process of internal disintegration within the Sov ...

, the company was passed from the Ministry of Sea Fleet of the USSR as a state company of Ukraine and later registered with the State Property Fund of Ukraine. On August 13, 1993,

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Leonid Kravchuk Leonid Makarovych Kravchuk ( uk, Леонід Макарович Кравчук; 10 January 1934 – 10 May 2022) was a Ukrainian politician and the first president of Ukraine, serving from 5 December 1991 until 19 July 1994. In 1992, he signed ...

issued the Decree #303, creating the state conglomeration "Blasko" based on "Black Sea Shipping Company". The Decree was canceled in January 1995. Speaking in 2013,

accepted his blame for decisions leading to ruining of the "Black Sea Shipping Company".

Leaders of the Black Sea Shipping Company

The tombstone of Aleksey Danchenko on the 2nd Christian Cementery in Odessa

* 1928—1931 — F. I. Matveyev * 1931—1934 — Boris Matveyevich Zanko * 1934—1935 — P. P. Koval * 1935—1937 — Genrikh Yakovlevich Magon * 1937 — Andrey Sergeyevich Polkovskiy * 25.11.1938—15.05.1939 — Semyon Ivanovich Tyomkin * 1939—1941 — Georgiy Afanasiyevich Mezentsev * 1942 — Ivan Georgiyevich Syryh (could be leader of Black Sea Shipping department "Sovtanker") * 1941—1944 — Pahom Mihailovich Makarenko * 1956—1972 — Aleksey Yevgeniyevich Danchenko — The favorite leader of the Black Sea Shipping Company sailors. * 1972—1975 — A. V. Goldobenko * 1975—1978 — Oleg Konstantinovich Tomas * 1978—1986 — Stanislav Aleksandrovich Lukiyanchenko * 1986—1992 — Viktor Vasiliyevich Pilipyenko * 1992—1994 — Pavlo Kudyukin * 1994—1995 — Oleksiy Koval * 1995—1997 — Oleksandr Stohniyenko * 1997—1998 — Oleksandr Diordiyev * 1998—2000 — Serhiy Melashchenko * 2000—2002 — Borys Shcherbak * 2002—2004 — Mykhailo Mazovskyi * 2004—2009 — Yevhen Kozhevin * 2021 - Smetanin Volodymyr

Vessels fleet

Black Sea Shipping company was the biggest company in the world in the 1980s as per quantity of sea-going vessels. The company had more than 250 sea-going ships during the best times.

Ports and harbours of operation

During the Soviet Union period and after the creation of the Novorossiysk Sea Shipping Company all of the large ports on the present Ukrainian territory except Sevastopol, Asov Sea ports, Kerch port and Danube river ports were owned and administered by the Black Sea Shipping Company. After the collapse of the Soviet Union these ports separated from the shipping company. Ports of Black Sea Shipping Co. during Soviet Union period: * Constellation of the Black Sea basin (by analogy with the word Mediterranean): **

Odesa Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrative ...

Chornomorsk Chornomorsk ( uk, Чорномо́рськ, ), formerly Illichivsk (, translit. ''Illichivs'k''), is a city in Odesa Raion, Odesa Oblast (province) of south-western Ukraine, dependent on the Port of Chornomorsk. The city is located around the ...

Yuzhne Yuzhne ( uk, Ю́жне, ; formerly: Южний, ''Yuzhnyi'',Internet portal of Yuzhny
translated as "southern"

* River ports: **

Mykolaiv Mykolaiv ( uk, Миколаїв, ) is a List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Southern Ukraine, the Administrative centre, administrative center of the Mykolaiv Oblast. Mykolaiv city, which provides U ...

Sea port **

Kherson Kherson (, ) is a port city of Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers appr ...

Sea port **

Bilhorod-Dnistrovsky Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi ( uk, Бі́лгород-Дністро́вський, Bílhorod-Dnistróvskyy, ; ro, Cetatea Albă), historically known as Akkerman ( tr, Akkerman) or under different names, is a city, municipality and port situated on ...

* Crimea ports **

Yalta Yalta (: Я́лта) is a resort city on the south coast of the Crimean Peninsula surrounded by the Black Sea. It serves as the administrative center of Yalta Municipality, one of the regions within Crimea. Yalta, along with the rest of Crimea ...

Alushta Alushta ( uk, Алушта; crh, Aluşta; ) is a city of regional significance on the southern coast of the Crimean peninsula which is within the Republic of Crimea, an internationally recognized ''de jure'' part of Ukraine, but since 2014 a ''de ...

Feodosiya uk, Феодосія, Теодосія crh, Kefe , official_name = () , settlement_type= , image_skyline = THEODOSIA 01.jpg , imagesize = 250px , image_caption = Genoese fortress of Caffa , image_shield = Fe ...

Before the creation of the Novorossiysk Sea Shipping Company, the Black Sea Shipping Company also included all ports of Novorossiysk Sea Shipping Company on the east coast of the Black Sea: *

Novorossiysk Novorossiysk ( rus, Новоросси́йск, p=nəvərɐˈsʲijsk; ady, ЦIэмэз, translit=Chəməz, p=t͡sʼɜmɜz) is a city in Krasnodar Krai, Russia. It is one of the largest ports on the Black Sea. It is one of the few cities hono ...

Tuapse Tuapse (russian: Туапсе́; ady, Тӏуапсэ ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, town in Krasnodar Krai, Russia, situated on the northeast shore of the Black Sea, south of Gelendzhik and north of Sochi. Population: Tuapse i ...

The main port was

Odessa Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrativ ...

during all times. And most of tonnage of cargо passed via Constellation of the Black Sea basin - Odessa, Chornomorsk, Yuzhne ports.

Sevastopol Sevastopol (; uk, Севасто́поль, Sevastópolʹ, ; gkm, Σεβαστούπολις, Sevastoúpolis, ; crh, Акъя́р, Aqyár, ), sometimes written Sebastopol, is the largest city in Crimea, and a major port on the Black Sea ...

was not a Black Sea Shipping Company port. It was a naval port of Soviet Union in Black Sea.

Ships of Black Sea Shipping Company

List of ships

List of current ships * Volzhskiy class cargo ship: # Aleksandr Lebed (received from Kama Shipping in 2014) * Volgo-Don class cargo ship: # Catharine (received from unknown in 2002) # Chalsi (received from Volga Shipping in 2001) # Vasiliy Tatischev (received from Kama Shipping in 2014) * Chelsea class cargo ship: (all built in

based on Volgo-Don class cargo ships) # Chelsea-1 (received from Malta in 2014) # Chelsea-2 (2006) # Chelsea-3 (2006) # Chelsea-4 (2007) # Chelsea-5 (2007) # Chelsea-6 (2008) # Chelsea-7 (2010) * Ganz class floating cranes: (built in

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

, Hungary) # Stryzh (1997)

List of ships used with Saluta Shipping

In association with Kama Shipping * Volgo-Don class cargo ship: # Corvus (received from unknown in 2011) # Evgenia Z (received from unknown in 2011) # Nikolay Meshkov (received from Cyprus in 2011)

List of former ships

During the best period of this company, which was the 1970s to the first part of the 1980s, it had more than 250 sea going ships. The company had the following ships, (with description in brackets mentioning the years of a ship with the Black Sea Shipping Company):

Passengers ships

* Ex.

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

passenger ships which were received by the Soviet Union as per the Allies Agreement: # '' Admiral Nakhimov'' (1954-1986) # ''

Admiral Ushakov Fyodor Fyodorovich Ushakov ( rus, Фёдор Фёдорович Ушако́в, p=ʊʂɐˈkof; – ) was an 18th century Russian naval commander and admiral. He is notable for winning every engagement he participated in as the Admiral of t ...

'' (1946-1975) # ''Rossia'' (7 Feb, 1946 — 1985) # ''Pobeda'' (18 Feb, 1946 — end of 1970s) # ''Ukraina'' *Other purchased passenger ships # ''Pyotr Velikiy'', previously Polish , previously German ''Duala'' * Ivan Franko class passenger ships: # MS Shota Rustaveli # MS Ivan Franko *

Belorussiya-class cruiseferry The ''Belorussiya''-class was a class of cruiseferries (sometimes also referred to as the ''Gruziya'' class) that were built by Wärtsilä Turku Shipyard, Finland in 1975–1976 for the Black Sea Shipping Company, Soviet Union. The five ships in t ...

: #

MS Belorussiya The ''Belorussiya''-class was a class of cruiseferries (sometimes also referred to as the ''Gruziya'' class) that were built by Wärtsilä Turku Shipyard, Finland in 1975–1976 for the Black Sea Shipping Company, Soviet Union. The five ships in t ...

# MS Gruziya (1975—1996) # Azeibarzhan (1975-1996)

Cargo ships

# ''Коммунист'' (1922 — 14.01.1942), ex. UK ship ''Regimen'' (built in 1891). From 14.01.1942 the ship was included in Black Sea Naval Force fleet and was lost on 24.02.1942, due to

. Корабли ВМФ СССР накануне и в годы Великой Отечественной войны. Рубрика: Суда > Транспорты > Разнотипные.
/ref> # ''Передовик'' (English: ''Peredovik'') (1939-1951). The ship was built in the Soviet Union in 1939, transferred in 1951 to the

Far East Shipping Company FESCO Transportation Group ( rus, Fesco, r=FESCO Group) is an intermodal transport operator in Russia, which provides services, including marine shipping, Roll-on/roll-off, rail transportation and port handling. The parent company of the Group i ...

. * Ex. Germany cargo ships which were taken by Soviet Union as per the Alias Agreement: *

Belorussia-class cargo ships Belorussia-class cargo ships were a Soviet Union class of 25 cargo ships which were built on the West Coast of the United States as per design 1013 and as per Lend-Lease Agreement purchased by USSR in 1942–1945 years, during World War II, as the ...

or West-class. Total 11 general cargo ships of this class were transferred from

to Black Sea Shipping Company: # '' Белоруссия'' (6 June 1947 — 28 Nov, 1960) # '' Восток'' (5 July 1948 — 26 Sept, 1966) # '' Лермонтов'' (end of 1940's — 12 Jan, 1966) # '' Плеханов'' (21 Sept, 1949 — 9 March 1950) # '' Тарас Шевченко'' (21 Sept, 1949 — 7 March 1963) # '' Вторая Пятилетка'' (6 Feb, 1950 — 23 March 1967) # '' Иркутск'' (9 March 1950 — 27 May 1966) # '' Караганда'' (9 March 1950 — 1967). This ship was used on the line between Black Sea Soviet ports and India ports. # '' Кавказ'' (11 June 1950 — 2 March 1955) # ''Омск'' (ex. ''Капитан Вислобоков'') (11 June 1950 — 3 Feb, 1959) # '' Аргунь'', ex. US ship ''West Modus'' from 1919 to 1942, (12 April 1951 — 11 April 1962). * Kolomna-class cargo ships, - total 2 ships of this class ships were in Black Sea Shipping Company: # ''Nezhin'' # ''Smela'' * Divnogorsk-class cargo ships # SS Divnogorsk (1961) # SS Mednogorsk (1961) *

Leninsky Komsomol class cargo ships The ''Leninsky Komsomol class'' (also transliterated as ''Leninskiy Komsomol'' or ''Leninskij Komsomol'' (Russian: ''Ленинский Комсомол класс'') was a class of 25 ocean-going dry cargo ships; tweendeckers with turbine main e ...

, - total 25 ships #

SS Leninsky Komsomol ''Leninsky Komsomol'' (russian: Ленинский Комсомол) was a merchant ship of Black Sea Shipping Company (Soviet Union), a tweendecker type Cargo ship, freighter with steam turbine engines and the first ship in the Leninsky Komsomol ...

(1959) #

SS Metallurg Baykov } The SS ''Metallurg Baykov'' (russian: Металлург Байков) was a tweendecker freighter with steam turbine engines and the second Leninsky Komsomol-class cargo ship (Project 567). The merchant ship belonged to the Black Sea Shippin ...

(1960) # SS Fizik Kurchatov # SS Metallurg Anosov # SS Bratstvo (1963) # and others * Slavyansk-class cargo ships or Slanyanye-class cargo ships were built in Soviet Union: # Slanyansk # ''Sarny'' * Liberty class cargo ships. In addition to 40

Liberty ship Liberty ships were a class of cargo ship built in the United States during World War II under the Emergency Shipbuilding Program. Though British in concept, the design was adopted by the United States for its simple, low-cost construction. Mass ...

s purchased by the Soviet Union under Lend-Lease during

. 10 vessels of this type were purchased for the Black Sea State Shipping Company from Europe (mainly in Italy) in 1963: # ''Алатау'' # ''Авача'' # ''Бештау'' # ''Дарьял'' (1963-1977),ех. ''George Whitefield'' which was built at the "Southeastern Shipbuilding Corporation" shipyard in 1943 and sold to Norway in 1947 and changed name to ''Wilford'', then sold to Italy in 1957 and changed name to ''Orata''. The ship was purchased by Soviet Union in 1963 and scrapped in 1977. История судов типа Либерти.
/ref> # ''Карпаты'' # ''Хибины'' # ''Машук'' # ''Саяны'' # ''Сихотэ-Алинь'' # ''Малахов Курган'' * Kommunist-class cargo ships were built in East Germany: # ''Fridrikh Engels'' # ''Rosa Luksemburg'' # ''Ernst Telman'' (Russian: ''Эрнст Тельман'') (1970—1997), IMO 7023269 # ''Toyvo Antikaynen''

References

External links

Ships of Ukraine website

Lartsev, V. ''ChMP - Part 3. Requiem for the Black Sea squadron''. (ЧМП - частина третя. Реквієм за Чорноморською ескадрою)

Ukrayinska Pravda ''Ukrainska Pravda'' ( uk, Українська правда, lit=Ukrainian Truth) is a Ukrainian online newspaper founded by Georgiy Gongadze on 16 April 2000 (the day of the Ukrainian constitutional referendum). Published mainly in Ukraini ...

. 2013-01-25 * Malko, R.
Drowned billios. How was destroyed Black Sea Shipping Company (Потоплені мільярди. Як було знищене Чорноморське морське пароплавство)
'.

The Ukrainian Week ''The Ukrainian Week'' ( uk, Український Тиждень, translit=Ukrainskyi Tyzhden) is an illustrated weekly magazine covering politics, economics and the arts and aimed at the socially engaged Ukrainian-language reader. It provides ...

. 29 October 2016
Peter Loboda. Under Motherland’s Flag
{{Operation Anadyr Shipping companies of Ukraine Transport companies established in 1922 Shipping companies of the Soviet Union Companies based in Odesa 1922 establishments in Ukraine 1833 establishments in Ukraine