JSC "Vodokhod. Passenger Port" is a shipping company that organizes urban river excursions and high-speed passenger services in several major cities of Russia. It is a structural division of the Vodokhod Group of Companies responsible for the small excursion and high-speed fleet. According to the company, its history dates back to the Leningrad Suburban Passenger Steamship Company, founded in 1937.[1] It has been operating in Nizhny Novgorod since 2023.[1]

Operations and Fleet

In 2025, the company managed 49 excursion and high-speed vessels, of which 36 were electrically powered. The staff numbered around 500 employees, and annual passenger traffic has exceeded 1.5 million people since 2024.[1] The company operates in six regions: Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Yaroslavl, Perm, and Krasnoyarsk.[1]

Nizhny Novgorod Direction

In Nizhny Novgorod, "Vodokhod. Passenger Port" began operations during the 2023 navigation season; at the same time, the electric catamaran "Ekokhod-3" was launched, becoming the flagship of the company's Nizhny Novgorod fleet.[1] As of 2025–2026, three excursion vessels operate in the city: the electric catamaran "Ekokhod-3" and two double-deck motor vessels of the "Moskva" type — "Moskva-198" and "Moskva-143". All vessels are equipped with an enclosed saloon on the main deck, an open upper deck, air conditioning, a restroom, and an onboard bar. Departures are from Pier No. 6 at the River Terminal, with voyages lasting approximately one hour.[1]

In June 2026, the company launched a new regular urban tourist-class water route: the electric vessel "NiNo" of the "Fontanka 2.0" project, built at the Saint Petersburg shipyard "Rechnaya" on commission from JSC "Vodokhod. Passenger Port", began operating between the pier at the The Chkalov Staircase and the pier at Strelka. The vessel has a capacity of 75 passengers; it features both enclosed and open decks and a saloon with split-system air conditioning.[1]

Vodokhod Group

The parent company — OOO "Vodokhod", registered on 18 February 2004 — positions itself as Russia's largest shipping company and tour operator as of the end of 2025.[1][2] In addition to urban sightseeing cruises, the group operates multi-day voyages along the Volga, Kama, Don, and Yenisei rivers, expedition tours to Lake Baikal, and sea voyages from Sochi across the Black Sea and the Mediterranean.[1] For three consecutive years — 2021, 2022, and 2023 — the company was named a winner of the "Industry Leader" competition held by the Federal Agency for Maritime and River Transport (Rosmorrechflot) in the river passenger transport category.[2] In Nizhny Novgorod, at the Krasnoye Sormovo shipyard, the group commissioned the flagship four-deck motor vessel Mustay Karim (project PV-300), which was launched on 11 September 2019.[2]

Links

Sources

  1. sputnik8.com — Vodokhod Company in Nizhny Novgorod
  2. vodohod.com — Vodokhod Shipping Company — River Cruises 2026–2027 across Russia — Vodokhod Tour Operator (archive)
Materials from the following articles were used (1)

Launch of the electric vessel "NiNo" on the Chkalovskaya Staircase — Strelka route (2026)