Russian shipping company Sozvezdie has placed an order for six new cruise ships to be built by Russia’s United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC).
The design work for this series of cruise ships will be carried out by Vympel Design Bureau under USC in accordance with the requirements of Russian Maritime Register of Shipping.
Each cruise ship is equipped with 126 cabins and can accommodate up to 279 passengers. The design highlights the placement of the wheelhouse below the deck where the cabins and public areas are located, which is different from the traditional cruise ship layout where the wheelhouse is placed on the deck.
Thanks to the unique layout of the wheelhouse, several cabins in the bow area will feature panoramic floor-to-ceiling windows, and above these cabins will be an open observation deck with a bar and terrace.
After delivery, the new ships will be put into operation on Russian inland routes to serve the Russian domestic market. In addition, these cruise ships will also operate in coastal areas of the Baltic Sea, Black Sea, Sea of Azov and Gulf of Finland.
Under the influence of international sanctions, Russia’s shipbuilding industry is accelerating its efforts to break free from external dependence. In 2024, President Putin supported the integration of Far Eastern assets between USC and Zvezda Shipyard to improve industry efficiency. The six cruise ships were all designed and built domestically, a typical example of the localization of civilian shipbuilding.
According to information, USC is operated by the Russian Foreign Trade Bank (VTB) and was established in March 2007. It has more than 40 enterprises under its umbrella, including design institutes, research centers, shipyards, ship repair and machinery manufacturing plants. It integrates most of Russia’s domestic shipbuilding resources and has 95,000 employees. Its products include merchant ships, nuclear submarines, aircraft carriers and other ships.
The Vympel Design Bureau, headquartered in St. Petersburg and responsible for this design, is a core design agency within USC. As a multidisciplinary design firm with over 95 years of experience, Vympel has completed over 550 projects and built over 6,500 ships. In recent years, its expertise has continued to expand, successfully entering new design areas such as large transport ships, passenger ships, fishing ships, research ships and icebreakers. The bureau is capable of solving the most complex tasks in both civilian and military shipbuilding, providing a full range of services from concept development to technical support for ongoing projects.
