Moskvitch (russian: Москвич) (projects 515, 544, 554) is a series of Soviet local

passenger A passenger (also abbreviated as pax) is a person who travels in a vehicle, but does not bear any responsibility for the tasks required for that vehicle to arrive at its destination or otherwise operate the vehicle, and is not a steward. The ...

river ships. The first Moskvich ships were built in 1948 in the

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 ...

factory of shipbuilding. Moskvich ships did not receive names, only numbers. They were identified by the letter M followed by the ship's number, for example M-270. Later though, some ships owned by private operators have received their own names. Moskvichs were built in Moscow until the 1960s. Moskvich ships were used for short sightseeing trips, but also as a type of public transport, called “water tramway” (concept similar to

water taxi A water taxi or a water bus is a watercraft used to provide public or private transport, usually, but not always, in an urban environment. Service may be scheduled with multiple stops, operating in a similar manner to a bus, or o ...

). As of 2007, many Moskvichs are still in service. Most of them are used for sightseeing, some are used as sailing restaurants.

Technical specifications

*Length: *Beam: *Draft: *Height from water to deck: *Maximum height: *Speed: *Engine:

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-call ...

*Passenger capacity: 150 maximum

Modifications

Type Moskvich ships were also built in

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 ...

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 approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

. These ships were almost completely the same as Moscow-build Moskvich, as they were built according to the same project (544), but they were identified as type PT ships. Similar ships were built in

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 ...

also. Leningrad-build ships were almost the same as Moscow-build ships, but their superstructure was little bit lower than on Moscow-build ships. The reason was that Leningrad had many low bridges. Leningrad-built ships are known as Leningradets-type ships, project 564K.

Accidents

* On October 6, 1968 in Cheboksary, the ''M–176'' collided with a reefer on the

Volga River The Volga (; russian: Во́лга, a=Ru-Волга.ogg, p=ˈvoɫɡə) is the List of rivers of Europe#Rivers of Europe by length, longest river in Europe. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Cas ...

and sank. 51 passengers were killed, 10 injured. * On May 29, 2019 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 ...

, the '' Hableány'' collided with the cruise ship ''Viking Sigyn'' on the

Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...

'','' and sank. 26 passengers and 2 crewmen were killed, 7 survived.

Sources

Russian river ships – local sail ships

Technical drawing

References

{{Reflist Boat types Ships of Russia Ships of the Soviet Union Ship classes