Calypso will be launched in Sochi

Kommersant (Krasnodar) No. 13 dated January 27, 2021.

In May, a sea taxi will start working in Sochi in test mode. The investor of the project is the firm of the deputy of the city council Anna Nevzorova – GC Metropolis. The volume of investments in the project has not yet been disclosed. According to the city authorities, the sea taxi will somewhat relieve the highways in the summer. In case of successful implementation of the pilot project, the possibility of increasing the fleet and expanding the route of sea transportation is considered. Experts believe that 80 percent of the success of the project depends on how the movement and maintenance of water transport will be organized.

In May 2021, a sea taxi will start operating in Sochi. This was reported by the press service of the city administration. In test mode, two high-speed boats with a capacity of twenty people will enter the line. They will run in two directions: from the seaport of Sochi to the port of Imeretinsky and the Lazarevskoye microdistrict.

The project investor is Metropolis Group of Companies. Speed boats will be built by the Fortuna Shipyard. The contract has already been concluded. According to the head of the city, Alexei Kopaygorodsky, a sea taxi will allow residents and guests of the city to quickly move between remote areas of Big Sochi, to some extent relieve the city roads in summer, and will also become a new excursion route.

The city authorities expect that the sea service, which is being revived many years later (it was developed in Sochi during the Soviet period), will be in demand. If the pilot project demonstrates its viability, they consider the possibility of placing ships of larger capacity on voyages – up to 60 and 120 seats, as well as expanding the routes.

The volume of investments in the project has not been disclosed at this stage. Anna Nevzorova, the head of the Metropolis Group of Companies, deputy of the Sochi City Council, told Kommersant-Kuban that it is too early to talk about the volume of investments at the stage of project testing. “In any case, we are talking about a phased investment. At the moment we are engaged in the organization of logistics and technological service “, – said Ms. Nevzorova.

Ticket sales will tentatively begin in April. The investor also does not report the cost of one trip, noting that prices will be tested using the booking system through special applications.

The construction of two high-speed boats Calypso 38 LIMO at the request of the investor is being carried out by the Fortuna Shipyard. Calypso 38 LIMO is a passenger vessel designed for year-round operation in sea areas with a wave height of up to two meters and a probable wind force of up to 17 m / s. The vessel has a capacity of twenty people and two crew members. The boats are equipped with air conditioning, toilets and aviation-type seats.

The director of the Fortuna shipyard, Alexander Muravitsky, told Kommersant-Kuban that the investor planned to purchase ten twenty-seat boats, but then decided to test the project using two vessels. “After the test operation, a decision will be made: to buy the Calypso 38 LIMO boats or to purchase three high-speed sixty-seat Sirius 60 catamarans,” said Alexander Muravitsky. According to the director of the shipyard, in parallel, negotiations are underway on the launch of coastal passenger traffic between Sochi, Anapa and Novorossiysk. “In December 2020, we discussed this opportunity with the Deputy Chairman of the State Duma for Physical Culture, Sports, Tourism and Youth Affairs Sergey Krivonosov. First of all, we are talking about the need to organize sea passenger traffic between Sochi and Anapa. We are ready to build ships that will provide cabotage communications of any direction, ”said Mr. Muravitsky.

According to Valery Emelyanov, an analyst at Freedom Finance Investment Company, 80% of the project’s success will depend on how traffic and service are organized.

“The most common problem with these types of transport is boarding and unboarding is in inconvenient places, and this cuts off a significant portion of potential passengers. There are two functional ports on the Sochi-Adler line, but the route to Lazarevskoye raises questions. If there are ships with a capacity of up to 20 people, a sea taxi will bring 300-400 thousand rubles per day. For the season – up to 60 million rubles, for the year – about 80 million rubles. Yachts of the required capacity cost at least 300 million rubles. Consequently, each purchased vessel will have to work for four years in order to fully recoup the investment in it, with regular fleet renewal, the term can be reduced to three years, which brings the project closer in terms of profitability to investments in the minibus line, which pay off relatively quickly. But all this with the assumption that the prices and class of service will be comparable to other companies that take tourists by sea on yachts: forty minutes on the way, 15-20 minutes for loading, one ticket – 1,500 rubles, ”the analyst says.

According to the SPARK-Interfax system, Anna Nevzorova is a co-owner of seven legal entities, including LLC Metropolis, Metropolis Invest, Megapolis, Specialized developer Megastroy, Specialized developer Megaland, Moravia “and” Bereg-2 “. Metropolis LLC was registered in 2015 in Sochi. The main activity is preparation for the sale of own real estate. The company’s revenue at the end of 2019 amounted to 1.7 million rubles, a net loss of 2.6 million rubles.

OOO Fortuna Shipyard was registered in Sochi in 2018. Alexander Muravitsky is indicated as the beneficiary. The main activity is the construction of pleasure and sports boats. The company’s net assets in 2019 amounted to RUB 24 million.

Natalya Reshetnyak.

Source: https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/4662671