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MS General Lavrinenkov

Former name: MS Excellence Katharina

MS General Lavrinenkov cruise ship
Rating:

Cruise line
Orthodox Cruise Company (Russian River Cruises)

PositionDeck plansCabins

MS General Lavrinenkov last position

MS General Lavrinenkov last location was at Azov Sea (coordinates 47.20451 N / 39.71402 E) cruising at speed of 22.5 kn (42 km/h | 26 mph) The AIS position was reported 1 month ago.

Current Position

Specifications of MS General Lavrinenkov

Year of build1990  /  Age: 34
Flag state Russia
BuilderVEB Elbewerften Boizenburg (Rosslau, Germany)
ClassUSSR Russian cruise ship (Project 302)
Speed14 kn / 26 km/h / 16 mph
Length (LOA)129 m / 423 ft
Beam (width)17 m / 56 ft
Gross Tonnage5500 gt
Passengers182
Crew98
Decks5
Cabins91
Decks with cabins3
Last Refurbishment2016
Sister-shipsDmitriy Furmanov-class
Former namesMS Excellence Katharina
OwnerDoninturflot (Russia)
OperatorOrthodox Cruise Company, Imperial River Cruises

MS General Lavrinenkov Review

Review of MS General Lavrinenkov

MS General Lavrinenkov cruise ship ("теплоход Генерал Лавриненков" круизный корабль) is a traditional Russian river passenger ship built for the USSR (Soviet Union) in GDR (Eastern Germany). This ship is also exclusively chartered (under the name "MS Excellence Katharina") by the German travel company Reiseburo Mittelthurgau. The vessel is currently owned by the Russian shipping company Doninturflot (Донинтурфлот) and operated by its subsidiary "Orthodox Cruise Company".

From the same series are a total of 28 boats manufactured in the period 1983-1992. All these ships are with diesel-electric propulsion (three propellers) and originally designed with a capacity of 332 passengers (max).

The ship was built in 1990 for the USSR / Russian state-owned company "Volga-Donskoe Retschnoje Parochodstwo" ("Волго-Донское пароходство", today "Азово-Донское Пароходство") based in Rostov-on-Don. Currently, the vessel is owned by the Russian company Doninturflot (Донинтурфлот) and operated under charter by the Russian companies "Orthodox Cruise Company" and "Imperial River Cruises Russia".

MS General Lavrinenkov cruise ship (Russia)

The ship is named after General Vladimir Lavrinenkov (1919-1988), an Air Force hero of WW2 (1939-1945). Initially, the ship's passenger capacity was 212, but following the 2016 refurbishment, its capacity was reduced to 184.

MS Lavrinenkov was reborn in 2016 as “MS Excellence Katharina” via complete refurbishment. After the refit, the cruise ship acquired usable and pleasant interior design in warm colours, as well as much more convenience. Now, most cabins have balconies, and one passenger elevator serves all decks.

Onboard entertainment programming includes games, themed parties, dancing evenings and live music concerts. From the sweeping sundeck to the spacious lounges, this floating hotel provides unique cruising vacations on the Russian waterways.

Cabins

There are several different categories of staterooms aboard Excellence Katharina, including Standard Single, Standard Twin, Deluxe and Suites. All cabins are air-conditioned and heated. Each stateroom as amenities offers individually controlled air conditioning, refrigerator, radio, flat TV, en-suite bathroom (WC, shower, single sink vanity), large windows (excepting Lower Deck cabins which are with portholes).

Most staterooms are with two single beds. Panorama Suites are 2-room accommodations with separate bedroom (one double bed, sofa) and spacious living room (with L-shaped sofa). An extra folding bed is available for a third person. Suite bathrooms are with bathtub/shower configuration. Category A1 are single-occupancy cabins, each with one single bed.

Traditionally for this type of Russian passenger ships, MS Lavrinenkov has two bars, two comfortable restaurants (one dining room, one dinner / bar-restaurant), conference hall (meeting room), library (reading room), beauty salon (hair salon), sauna, laundry facility, souvenir shop. sun deck with outdoor seating (loungers, deckchairs and tables).

River cruise itineraries

General Lavrinenkov ship's itinerary program offers regularly scheduled cruises on Volga and Don rivers in Russia, between Moscow and Rostov-on-Don. The list of visited ports along the itinerary routes (northbound and southbound) includes Uglich, Yaroslavl, Kostroma, Plyos, Nizhny Novgorod, Kazan, Ulyanovsk, Samara, Saratov, Volgograd, passing Volga-Don Canal, and Rostov.

Part of the crew is Russian government-licensed tour guides who run the onboard and ashore enrichment program. Throughout the voyage, these professional tour guides give lectures themed on the country's culture, art and history, as well as information about all visited ports of call along the cruise itinerary.

Note: You can see the CruiseMapper's list of all river cruise ships and riverboats in the "itinerary" section of our River Cruises hub. All companies and their fleets are listed there.

Other Orthodox Cruise Company cruise ships

MS General Lavrinenkov Wiki

MS Lavrinenkov is one of Russia's signature "Project 302" river cruise ships.

Dmitriy Furmanov-class Russian river ships

"Dmitriy Furmanov class" (aka "Project 302") are 4 series of Russian river cruise ships built in GDR (Eastern Germany) for USSR (Soviet Union) in the period 1983-1992. The vessel class name honours the Russian writer Dmitriy Andreyevich Furmanov (1891-1926) who also served as Bolshevik commissar (Red Army officer).

These Russian river cruise ships (a total of 27 units) were all produced by VEB Elbewerft Boizenburg and represent an upgraded (larger) version of Project 301 (Vladimir Ilyich-class) riverboats. These ships were used for passenger (cruise) shipping in Northwestern USSR - on the rivers Volga, Belomorkanal, Lake Onega, Volga–Don Canal, Kama and Amur rivers, as well as on Dnieper River (Ukraine), Black Sea (coastal cruising) and Yangtze River (in China). Following the USSR's collapse (1991), all these boats were acquired by private companies (Russian and foreign).

Russian river cruise ship (Project 302) Dmitriy Furmanov-class

"Project 302" ship technology

"Project 302" ships have the following details:

  • LOA length 129 m (423 ft)
  • width 17 m (55 ft)
  • DWT tonnage 3852 tons
  • V-shaped hulls - differ by series as external elements, window shape (rectangular or rounded), wheelhouse headlights
  • 5 decks (4 passengers)
  • Originally, each boat had capacity 332 passengers and 98 crew, all-outside cabins (1-2-3-bed), 2 restaurants (180 seats plus 80 seats), Cafe Bar (79 seats, with dance floor), 2 bar lounges (common rooms), Cinema (102 seats), Music Hall with Bar (75 seats), Observation Lounge with Bar (75 seats), Sauna Room, Souvenir Shop, Hair Salon, Massage Salon, Library, Hospital (first-aid room), 360-degree Promenade Deck (with outdoor seating / 100 seats, sports area).
  • Powerplant includes three marine diesel engines "Viertakt-Dieselmotor " (4-stroke, model 6ЧРН 36/45 / aka ЭГ70-5) each with a turbocharger.
  • Propulsion consists of 3 bow thrusters.
  • The powerplant consists of 3x diesel engines (4-stroke 6ЧРН 36/45, aka EГ70-5) with turbocharger and total power output 2,2 MW.
  • Staterooms are single, double and quads (originally 1-2-3-bed cabins) with en-suite bathrooms.
  • After reconstruction, to the ships were introduced larger cabins (including suites) and quads (with 2 upper bunks / wall-mounted Pullman beds).
  • All these traditional Russian ships were modernized, completely refurbished and rebuilt for both domestic and foreign river cruise companies. During their multi-million dollar drydock refits, the vessel's passenger capacity was considerably reduced to improve travel comfort and safety.

Project 302 ships

From Project 302's first series are the boats

  • Dmitriy Furmanov (1983, Дмитрий Фурманов)
  • Akademik Viktor Glushkov (1983, now Igor Stravinsky / Игорь Стравинский)
  • Novikov-Priboy (1983, now Sergey Diagelev)
  • Aleksey Surkov (1984, now Viking Helgi)
  • Konstantin Simonov (1984, Константин Симонов)
  • Leonid Sobolev (1985, Леонид Соболев)
  • Mikhail Sholokhov (1985, Михаил Шолохов)

From Project 302's second series are the boats

  • Aleksey Vatchenko (1985, now Ivan Bunin)
  • Yuriy Andropov (1986, Юрий Андропов)
  • Zosima Shashkov (1986, Зосима Шашков)
  • General Vatutin (1986, Генерал Ватутин)
  • MS Russ (1987, Русь)
  • MS Lenin (1987, Ленин)
  • Sergey Kirov (1987, now Viking Truvor)
  • Marshal Rybalko (1988, now Zirka Dnipra / Dnieper Princess)
  • Marshal Koshevoy (1988, now Viking Akun)
  • Georgy Chicherin (1988, Георгий Чичерин)
  • Leonid Krasin (1989, Леонид Красин)
  • Nikolay Bauman (1989, now Knyazhna Anastasia)
  • General Lavrinenkov (1990, Генерал Лавриненков)
  • Narkom Pakhomov (1990, now Viking Ingvar)

From Project 302's third series are the boats

  • Gleb Krzhizhanovskiy (1990, Глеб Кржижановский)
  • Maxim Litvinov (1991, Максим Литвинов)

From Project 302's fourth (last) series are the riverboats

  • Taras Shevchenko (September 1991, now TG Shevchenko)
  • Konstantin Stanyukovich (October 1991, now Princess Jeannie / Xian Ni) Regal China Cruises
  • Arkadiy Gaydar (November 1991, now Princess Sheena / Xian Na) Regal China Cruises
  • Aleksandr Grin (December 1991, now Princess Elaine / Xian Ting) Regal China Cruises
  • Vladimir Vysotsky (planned, hull built in 1996, launched in 2003 as "Ocean Diva Original")