On August 30, on the Day of Tatarstan and the City of Kazan, a ceremony took place for the first voyage of Chaika, a LNG-driven passenger ship and the opening of the first three CNG filling stations.
The events were attended by Tatarstan President Rustam Minnikhanov, Deputy Prime Minister of Russia Marat Khusnullin, Chairman of the Tatarstan’s State Council Farid Mukhametshin, and State Councillor of Tatarstan Mintimer Shaimiev.
The opening of the CNG Station 1 in the Pestrechinsky District, the Novaya Tura CNG station in the Zelenodolsk District, and the Raritek CNG station in Naberezhnye Chelny took place in the video conferencing mode. The honoured guests pressed the symbolic launch button, thereby starting the work of the stations.
Then President Minnikhanov and other guests boarded the Chaika LNG-driven passenger ship. The vessel departed from the Kremlin Embankment.
The Chaika-LNG river leisure and sightseeing boat for local lines (with a capacity of 150-170 passengers) was designed by the Zelenodolsk Design Bureau as a single-hull steel motor boat with the engine room aft and the bridge in the fore part.
The first Chaika-LNG passenger river ship was launched in Zelenodolsk on August 7, 2020. The launch was attended by Prime Minister of Tatarstan Aleksey Pesoshin.