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The term "Houseboat" appeared in Russia relatively recently and
became natural as a new fashion in shipbuilding and as an attractive
alternative to motor boats and yachts. Sea Tech Ltd. analyzed all
houseboat types in Europe and USA and was one of the first
organizations who presented novel projects of houseboats for the
Russian market with an allowance for the peculiarities of Russian
waterways and with a focus on Russian buyers.
We present here our realized projects of houseboats
ELAN', RAZNEZHYE and
OTRADA as well as some promising designs and studies on
prospective houseboats for both major and minor rivers:
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Studies of touring routes on Russia rivers and of touring
market make it possible to draw the following conclusions:
1) Minor navigable and non-navigable rivers:
- Small navigable and non-navigable rivers, particularly
those inside the Golden Ring of Russia (Klyazma, Tyosha,
Nelma etcetera) are environmentally clean, less populated
and have a lot of easy-to-access historical landmarks and
therefore are of significant touristic potential.
- The existing tourist motor vessels, though having
acceptable levels of comfort, cannot provide adequate
riverside leisure because of deep draught and rather high
freight costs.
- For leisure on rivers of the "Moscow Circumnavigation"
system with entering the navigable tributaries (Sura,
Klyazma etcetera) and on minor rivers with entering
non-navigable creeks (Tyosha, Kerzhenets etcetera), the best
solution will be lightweight shallow-draught houseboats
subject to the surveillance of the State Small Boat
Inspectorate (EMERCOM of Russia).
2) Major
navigable
rivers:
- The market demands houseboat-type vessels both for
individual use and for touristic chartering.
- Vessels intended for traditional cruising tend to be of a
touring bus capacity or higher that is 25 to 55 passengers.
From an operational point of view, such vessels are classed
not as houseboats, but as small-size cruisers of enhanced
comfort and shall be designed in accordance with Russian
River Register's Rules for passenger ships.
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info@seatech.ru
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