East Siberia river shipping co opens navigation Tue.

IRKUTSK, June 1 (Itar-Tass) - The East Siberian river shipping
administration (ESRSA), one of the oldest in the Asian part of Russia,
opens the 125th navigation on Tuesday.
Established by an edict issued by Emperor Alexander III on August 17,
1885, ESRSA still affords the river fleet, ports, and ship-repairing yards
within the boundaries of the River Angara and Lake Baikal areas, an
official at the ESRSA management office has told Itar-Tass.
ESRSA deputy executive director Andrei Shashurin said the overall
length of the navigable waterway for cargo and passenger transportation is
1,700 km. "We cater for such branches of the regional economy as
lumbering, the building industry, housing and public utilities sector, and
tourism," he said.
A number of novelties have been prepared by ESRSA by the jubilee
navigation. A modern two-deck comfortable cruise liner Barguzin-3 for more
than 100 passengers will begin to ply on the Baikal. The motorship was
made in Nizhny Novgorod and brought via the White Sea and the Arctic Ocean
to the Zhigalovo Settlement, located in the upper reaches of the Lena
River. At the end of June, the liner is to be brought to the place of
final assembly.
"By the peak of influx of tourists, the overhaul of the second ferry
-- the Dorozhnik -- will be completed on Olkhon Island, Lake Baikal. We
also prepare to launch a charter flight to yet another favourite
recreation place for locals and guests, including foreign ones -- the
Chivyrkui Gulf -- on the eastern shore of Baikal, since a motor road
leading there is in bad condition at a time when very many people are
eager to travel there," Shashurin said.
The ESRSA will mark its 125th jubilee on the day of professional
holiday of sea and river fleet workers -- on the first Sunday of July.
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