The oldest icebreaker in Russia will remain at the bottom of the Volga

The Ministry of Natural Resources has prepared a draft reduction of the program for lifting sunken ships

Almost a hundred different ships sunk in the waters of the Volga River are likely to remain at the bottom in the next three years. This is evidenced by the draft resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation, prepared by the Ministry of Natural Resources.

We are talking about optimizing the state program for environmental protection, that is, about saving budget funds. As stated in the explanatory note, the budget allocations for the recovery and disposal of sunken and abandoned ships in the process of improving the Volga “sequestered.” At the same time, the elimination or isolation of 15 “objects of accumulated harm” in the Volga water area remains in the program.

According to available data, at least (in fact, much more) 95 river vessels lie at the bottom of the Volga – mainly barges, landing stages, pleasure boats, etc. They are believed to cause environmental damage, including fuel and oil penetration into the water as the hulls and tanks rust. The owners of sunken ships quite often abandon them and deny themselves in every possible way so as not to pay for the rise.

Some of this fleet is of historical value. The most famous is the Saratov icebreaker, built in 1895, which participated in many historical events (the Civil and Great Patriotic Wars) and sank in the late 1960s within the city of Saratov. The Saratov Icebreaker is considered the first icebreaker in Russia and the first river icebreaker in the world.