The Ministry of the Maritime Fleet (Minmorflot; russian: Министерство морского флота СССР) was a

government ministry Ministry or department (also less commonly used secretariat, office, or directorate) are designations used by first-level executive bodies in the machinery of governments that manage a specific sector of public administration." Энцикло� ...

in the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

. The Merchant Maritime Fleet of the USSR is abbreviated Morflot (). All Soviet merchant fleet organizations and establishments were subordinate to the Ministry of the Maritime Fleet, abbreviated Minmorflot ().

History

Until 25 May 1939, functions of the Minmorflot were carried out by the

People's Commissariat of Water Transport The People's Commissariat for Water Transport (, ''Narodnyy Komissariat Vodnovo Transporta''), usually abbreviated ("Narkomvodtrans") or ("Narkomvod") and also sometimes NKVT, was the Soviet Ministry for Water Transportation. It was responsible, ...

, which was responsible for both maritime and river fleets. The structure of the People's Commissariat of Maritime Fleet as a separate people's commissariat was confirmed by a decree of the

Council of Ministers A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or natio ...

on 25 May 1939. On 15 March 1946, the People's Commissariat of the Maritime Fleet was renamed the Ministry of the Maritime Fleet by decree of the

Supreme Soviet The Supreme Soviet (russian: Верховный Совет, Verkhovny Sovet, Supreme Council) was the common name for the legislative bodies (parliaments) of the Soviet socialist republics (SSR) in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) ...

, along with all the other people's commissariats, which also became ministries. On March 15, 1953, Minmorflot was united with the Ministry of the River Fleet, becoming the Ministry of the Maritime and River Fleet. By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Council dated August 25, 1954, Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the USSR dated August 25, 1954 on the formation of all-Union Ministries of Maritime and River Fleets of the USSR on August 25, 1954, when the Ministry of Maritime Fleet and Ministry of River Fleet of the USSR were divided.
(russian: Указ Президиума ВС СССР от 25.08.1954 об образовании общесоюзных Министерств морского и речного флота СССР 25 августа 1954 года при разделении Министерства морского и речного флота СССР). the Ministry of Maritime and River Fleet was re-established on August 25, 1954, when the Ministry of Maritime Fleet and Ministry of River Fleet was redivided. Minmorflot was liquidated on December 26, 1991 due to the

dissolution 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 ...

Subordinate organizations and establishments

The Ministry of the Maritime Fleet was the head organization of Morflot. The main office of Mimmorflot was in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

. The following establishments were subordinated to Minmorflot in from 1970-1991: * Sovfraht * Register of the USSR, today

Russian Maritime Register of Shipping The Russian Maritime Register of Shipping (RS) maintains a ship register of the Russian Federation, based in Saint Petersburg, and is a marine classification society. Its activities aim to enhance safety of navigation, safety of life at sea, se ...

* Maritime Container Service (МРФ). * Merchant Maritime Transport (TMT, Russian: Торговый морской транспорт). The merchant marine was divided into shipping companies and sea routes. The following subordinate shipping companies to Minmorflot from 1960–1991: *

Baltic Sea Shipping Company The Baltic Sea Shipping Company or B.S.S.C (russian: ОАО Балтийское морское пароходство, БМП) is a Russian sea transport engaged in the business of oil products storage via rail wagons within Russian link-able term ...

Leningrad Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

Estonian Shipping Company Eesti Merelaevandus or ESCO, also called Estonian Shipping Company is an Estonian shipping company that currently operates eight multipurpose dry cargo and container ships. Technical management of the ships is performed by First Baltic Shipmana ...

Tallinn Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju ' ...

Latvian Shipping Company Latvian Shipping Company ( lv, Latvijas kuģniecība, ) is a Latvian shipping company founded 29 October 1940 and listed on the NASDAQ OMX Riga. The company owns 20 ships, employing more than 700 seamen from Latvia. The total carrying capacity o ...

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

n Shipping Company, Klaypeda *

Black Sea Shipping Company Black Sea Shipping Company (russian: Черноморское морское пароходство, uk, Чорноморське морське пароплавство) is a Ukrainian shipping company based in Kyiv. The company was established ...

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 ...

*Azov Shipping Company,

Mariupol Mariupol (, ; uk, Маріу́поль ; russian: Мариу́поль) is a city in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. It is situated on the northern coast (Pryazovia) of the Sea of Azov, at the mouth of the Kalmius River. Prior to the 2022 Russian i ...

*Novorossiysk Shipping Company,

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 ...

*Georgian Shipping Company,

Batumi Batumi (; ka, ბათუმი ) is the second largest city of Georgia and the capital of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara, located on the coast of the Black Sea in Georgia's southwest. It is situated in a subtropical zone at the foot of th ...

*Soviet Dunaj Shipping Company or Dunaj-Sea Shipping Company,

Izmail Izmail (, , translit. ''Izmail,'' formerly Тучков ("Tuchkov"); ro, Ismail or ''Smil''; pl, Izmaił, bg, Исмаил) is a city and municipality on the Danube river in Odesa Oblast in south-western Ukraine. It serves as the administra ...

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 ...

Vladivostok Vladivostok ( rus, Владивосто́к, a=Владивосток.ogg, p=vɫədʲɪvɐˈstok) is the largest city and the administrative center of Primorsky Krai, Russia. The city is located around the Zolotoy Rog, Golden Horn Bay on the Sea ...

*PRISCO,

Primorie Primorsky Krai (russian: Приморский край, r=Primorsky kray, p=prʲɪˈmorskʲɪj kraj), informally known as Primorye (, ), is a federal subject (a krai) of Russia, located in the Far East region of the country and is a part of the ...

(Seaside) Shipping Company,

Nahodka Nakhodka ( rus, Нахо́дка, p=nɐˈxotkə) is a port city in Primorsky Krai, Russia, located on the Trudny Peninsula jutting into the Nakhodka Bay of the Sea of Japan, about east of Vladivostok, the administrative center of the krai. Po ...

Sakhalin Shipping Company Sakhalin Shipping Company (SASCO) (russian: Сахалинское морское пароходство) is a Russian shipping company. Headquartered in Kholmsk, on Sakhalin Island's west coast, the company was created in 1945, and privatized in ...

Kholmsk Kholmsk (russian: Холмск), known until 1946 as Maoka ( ja, 真岡), is a port town and the administrative center of Kholmsky District of Sakhalin Oblast, Russia. It is located on the southwest coast of the Sakhalin Island, on coast of the gu ...

*Kamchatska Shipping Company,

Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky ( rus, Петропавловск-Камчатский, a=Петропавловск-Камчатский.ogg, p=pʲɪtrɐˈpavləfsk kɐmˈtɕatskʲɪj) is a city and the administrative, industrial, scientific, and cultur ...

Murmansk Shipping Company Murmansk Shipping Company (russian: Мурманское морское пароходство), often abbreviated as MSCO, is a Russian shipping company based in Murmansk (hence the name). One of the primary shipping companies operating in Arc ...

Murmansk Murmansk (Russian: ''Мурманск'' lit. "Norwegian coast"; Finnish: ''Murmansk'', sometimes ''Muurmanski'', previously ''Muurmanni''; Norwegian: ''Norskekysten;'' Northern Sámi: ''Murmánska;'' Kildin Sámi: ''Мурман ланнҍ'') i ...

Sevmorput ''Sevmorput'' ( rus, Севморпуть, p=sʲɪvmɐrˈputʲ, Northeast Passage) is a Russian nuclear-powered cargo ship. The 1988-built vessel is one of only four nuclear-powered merchant ships ever built and, after returning to service in 20 ...

(russian: Севморпуть), the organisation controlling the

Arctic The Arctic ( or ) is a polar regions of Earth, polar region located at the northernmost part of Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean, adjacent seas, and parts of Canada (Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut), Danish Realm (Greenla ...

Northeast Passage The Northeast Passage (abbreviated as NEP) is the shipping route between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, along the Arctic coasts of Norway and Russia. The western route through the islands of Canada is accordingly called the Northwest Passage (N ...

Sea route. *SVUMF (russian: СВУМФ), the North-Eastern Directorate of the Maritime Fleet. *Caspian Shipping Company,

Baku Baku (, ; az, Bakı ) is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. Baku is located below sea level, which makes it the lowest lying national capital in the world a ...

*Central Asian Shipping Company (

Aral Sea The Aral Sea ( ; kk, Арал теңізі, Aral teñızı; uz, Орол денгизи, Orol dengizi; kaa, Арал теңизи, Aral teńizi; russian: Аральское море, Aral'skoye more) was an endorheic basin, endorheic lake lyi ...

) Each Soviet seaport was part of the closest shipping company.

List of Ministers

Ministers of Minmorflot from March 1946 to March 1953: Ministers of Minmorflot from August, 1954 to December, 1991:

References

{{authority control Maritime Fleet Transport organizations based in the Soviet Union Maritime affairs ministries Water in the Soviet Union