17 July 2026
(Soldiers boarding a Danube steamboat. Artist: Jakob Alt. IMAGE: www.europeana.eu)
Throughout the 19th century, navigation on the Danube was a key arena of economic and political rivalry among the leading European powers. At that time, the Russian Empire lagged significantly behind its competitors in the development of steamship navigation due to the late establishment of shipping companies, an unfavorable international situation caused by the growing influence of Austria and Germany in the Balkans, and an insufficient level of development in river shipbuilding. However, the need to safeguard its economic interests and achieve its political and military objectives drove Russia’s desire to establish its own steamship fleet and secure reliable access to the Black Sea.
Reports in the press of the time attest to the scale and prospects for the development of Austrian steamship navigation on the Danube. For example, in its first issue (1835), the Odessa-based *Novorossiysk Calendar* noted: “This year, [Austria] has launched regular service between the most important commercial cities on the Danube—Vienna, Pressburg, and Pest—as well as between the river’s mouths—that is, along the Danube’s course through Austrian territories and Turkish lands. It remains to be seen whether such a connection will also be established upstream along the Danube, from Vienna to Bavaria. The Bavarian government has taken a particular interest this year in connecting the Danube with the Rhine—which could bring about a complete revolution in Central European trade.”
To establish a connection between the Danube estuaries and Constantinople, it was proposed to make “Galatz a storage point for both Austrian goods and products from the East intended for delivery to Austrian territories.” These plans were quickly put into action: as early as 1836, a regular steamship service was launched between the Danube, Constantinople, and Smyrna.
The newspaper *Odessa Herald* also noted: “Austria did much in the 1830s and 1850s to promote the distribution of German goods to the East. In 1829, the ‘First Danube Shipping Company’ was founded; in 1833, the Trieste Lloyd was established. Using these resources, Austria took action against us and gradually achieved a situation where, starting in 1844, the entire network of waterways connecting central Germany with Central Asia, via Constantinople and Trebizond, was entirely at its disposal. The steamships of the Danube Society sailed on one side to Galați and Odessa; on the other side, the steamships of the Trieste Lloyd maintained routes between the mouth of the Danube and Trabzon.”
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The emblem of the Trieste Lloyd steamship company. IMAGE: Wikipedia
As it expanded its trade on the Danube, the Austrian government grew dissatisfied with Russia’s reluctance to invest in dredging the Sulina Estuary and with its intransigence on many issues of foreign trade legislation. For example, in 1844, during trade negotiations, “the Austrian government sought to facilitate navigation on the Danube and requested that its agent in Sulina be granted the title of Austrian consul.”
With the aim of stimulating navigation and developing shipbuilding in the Danube-Black Sea region, the government sought to attract private capital to this endeavor by offering entrepreneurs financial support and incentives. A notable example in this regard is the project by Afanasy Zenkovich, a second-guild merchant from Odessa, to build a shipyard in Izmail. In a letter to Izmail’s mayor, Sergei Tuchkov, dated July 23, 1833, he requested: “To grant me a loan of fifteen thousand rubles, interest-free for ten years, to be repaid over the following three years, counting from the date of disbursement. Four thousand over four years, the same amount over seven years, and the remaining seven thousand after the ten-year period ends; during these ten years, allow me to procure materials for the shipyard from abroad, free of customs duties; [I request] that the government also assist me in purchasing materials domestically (as I specify: ropes, sails, tar, etc.)”.
Consideration of this project took quite a long time. It was only two years later that Zenkovich received imperial permission to provide the necessary funds for the construction of the shipyard. As early as 1834, the Cabinet of Ministers agreed to grant him a ten-year loan of 15,000 rubles for the construction of a merchant shipyard in Izmail. State subsidies were also planned.
To secure the loan, Collegiate Councilor Oleksandra Arvanitakova pledged her house as collateral. However, despite the government’s support, the project could not be realized. Over the next two years, construction of the shipyard never began, as the Kherson State Audit Office refused to provide funding due to the merchant’s failure to properly complete the necessary documentation.
In the mid-1830s, the development of steamship service on the Danube increasingly attracted the attention of government circles. During a visit to the Izmail Governorate in 1835, Governor-General Mikhail Vorontsov emphasized in his report to Finance Minister Yevgeny Kankrin: “Steamship service on the Danube promises great profits; funds must be secured to purchase steamships for the Danube.” The following year, these plans were put into action. On April 30, 1836, measures were introduced aimed at developing steamship service between the Danube and Mingrelia. The plan called for the active involvement of private capital in the implementation of this project. In particular, it was noted: “To expand trade relations with the Danube ports and Mingrelia, it is proposed to approach private individuals, invite our well-known capitalists, and make a proposal to this effect to a private steamship company operating on the Black Sea.”
In the spring of 1836, Minister of the Interior Dmitry Bludov, after first discussing the matter with the Minister of Finance, noted in his submission: “While the shipping service established last year between the ports of the Black and Azov Seas did not yield sufficient profits to cover all the costs of maintaining the steamships, the purpose of this measure was to generate profits by strengthening trade relations in the southern region.”
The government agreed with this reasoning, and in 1846, at the request of Governor-General Vorontsov, all management of steamships on domestic and international routes in the southern part of the empire was centralized under the Expedition for Regular Steamship Services between Odessa and Constantinople. Between 1846 and 1857, this consolidated enterprise was divided into three financially and operationally independent steamship companies: the Novorossiysk, Dniester, and Constantinople companies. Between 1851 and 1853, the three steamship companies collectively operated a fleet of 12 steamships.
A new phase in the development of Danube steamship navigation began in 1846, when regular passenger service was launched on the Odessa–Izmail–Reni–Galatz–Sulina route. This service was provided by the steamship “Peter the Great,” built in England in 1834.
On June 25, 1846, the “Peter the Great” made its first voyage along the Odessa–Sulina–Izmail–Reni–Galatz route. During the navigation season of that same year, the ship made more than twenty voyages, providing regular service between the Black Sea and Danube ports.
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The port of Izmail in the early 19th century. IMAGE:<span><span><span>imagoromaniae.ro</span></span></span>
As cargo volumes increased, the need to expand the steamship fleet arose. In January 1847, Mikhail Vorontsov approached the Naval Admiralty with a proposal to purchase two more steamships with a capacity of 160–180 horsepower from England. In May 1849, the tugboat “Supin” entered service, serving as an auxiliary vessel for the “Peter the Great.” It subsequently served on the Dniester line between Mayaki and Bendery, where it operated until 1857.
Alongside steamship transport, sailing vessels continued to be used on regional routes. During the period of Romanian rule, the sailing vessel “Saint Nicholas” provided coastal service between Izmail and Reni. On a single voyage, it carried up to 100 quarters of wheat, 50 woolen hides, and 10 boxes of candles.
The transit route through Vyzhnytsia–Berehomet–Yaprug also played an important role in the region’s transportation system. Timber from Bukovina was delivered to Romanian ports via this route, using approximately 50 boats and 9 tugboats.
After the region was returned in 1879, the tsarist government made its first attempt to establish a Russian steamship company on the lower Danube. The Russian Steamship and Trade Society (ROPiT) was invited to launch commercial services on the Odessa–Galatz or Odessa–Ruschuk routes. However, the ROPiT board demanded 70,000 rubles from the Ministry of Finance to maintain the line. The Russian Ministry of Transport was forced to seek a cheaper carrier and began negotiations with Prince Yuri Gagarin’s private steamship company.
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Prince Yuri Gagarin. IMAGE:<span><span><span><span>morskivestnik.com</span></span></span></span>
Yuri Yevgenyevich Gagarin came from a noble family. After marrying the young Princess Olga Skarlat-Sturza—owner of tens of thousands of desiatinas of land in Bessarabia—he significantly improved his financial situation. Later, in Izmail, he founded the trading firm “Prince Gagarin & Co.” Its grain trading offices operated in Reni, Izmail, Akkerman, and Odessa, while the main office was located in Kiliya.
On July 3, 1881, the government adopted a resolution “On Scheduled Steamship Service on the Odessa–Reni–Kiliya–Izmail Route,” which “authorized Prince Yuri Yevgenyevich Gagarin, a court counselor to His Imperial Majesty’s court holding the rank of chamberlain, to operate cargo and passenger service between Odessa and Izmail.” Prince Gagarin received a five-year permit to operate “express voyages” between Odessa and Izmail with his own ships, for which the government paid him approximately 12,000 rubles. The company’s main task was to provide passenger service between the Danube ports and Odessa.
Expanding commercial transportation required additional funds, so in 1883, Prince Gagarin’s trading house was transformed into a public joint-stock company. As early as November 21, 1883, the steamships “Yuri” and “Olga” began international voyages along the routes Odessa–Sulina–Tulcea–Galați–Braila–Chornovoda–Silistra–Ruschuk–Sistovo and Reni–Izmail–Sulina–Odessa.
On March 12, 1886, Prince Yuri Gagarin’s company was reorganized into the “Black Sea–Danube Steamship Company Joint-Stock Company” (ChDP) with a registered capital of 665,000 rubles. The company’s board of directors consisted of five members. Prince Yuri Gagarin became the managing director of the steamship company.
In 1891, the steamship company’s shareholders included the Morozov brothers, Kiryak Leonard, Alvin Lerche, the Demidov brothers, and Mikhail Ignatyev, in whose honor the steamship “Count Ignatyev” was named. This was reported by the weekly “Russian Shipping” on September 22, 1889: “The steamship ‘Count Ignatyev’ was named in honor of the renowned figure Count Mikhail Ignatyev, who contributed to the strengthening of commercial steamship navigation on the Danube and participated in the venture as a shareholder of the company.”
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The steamship “Count Ignatyev.” IMAGE:<span><span><span><span>odessa-biz.info</span></span></span></span>
The company received a number of tax breaks and subsidies from the government. The total amount of government aid amounted to about 58,000 rubles, which was significantly less than the subsidies received by ROPiT.
To carry out international and coastal voyages, the company was equipped with eight modern cargo-passenger steamships and a significant number of tugboats. These vessels provided transportation on the Izmail–Kiliya–Akkerman–Odessa route, as well as on international Danube routes. By 1902, the ChDP fleet already consisted of 12 steamships with a total capacity of 2,087 metric tons.
The expansion of the fleet had a positive impact on freight volumes. While 344,000 poods of cargo were transported via coastal shipping in 1886, this figure rose to 604,000 poods in 1891. At the same time, the volume of international shipments also increased: in 1891, they totaled 2,917,000 poods of cargo, and by 1894, this figure had risen to 3,772,500 poods.
Despite this positive trend, the Black Sea–Danube Steamship Company lagged behind the large state-owned and private shipping companies of European countries. During the 1860s–1890s, the Austro-Hungarian Danube Joint-Stock Steamship Company expanded its fleet from 130 to 156 steamships and its number of barges from 400 to 810. The Hungarian Steamship Company owned 43 steamships and 246 barges, of which 17 vessels and 282 barges operated on the Lower Danube. The Romanian State Steamship Company had 25 steamships and 65 barges, while private Romanian companies operated 75 steamships and 450 barges.
In the early 1890s, 167 cargo ships and about 1,100 barges were operating on the Lower Danube. Of these, the Black Sea–Danube Steamship Company owned only 10 steamships and 23 barges, accounting for 6% and 2.1%, respectively, of the region’s total number of vessels.
Between 1886 and 1903, the steamship company received approximately 10 million rubles from the state in the form of loans and funds for the purchase of shares. In 1903, more than 65% of the company’s shares were owned by the state. However, even with significant government support, the company failed to substantially increase its cargo volumes or strengthen its position in the Danube market.
For example, in 1892, the company’s ships transported 402,000 poods of grain from ports along the Danube, while foreign steamships alone exported over 3 million poods of grain from Kiliya. Even in the bountiful harvest year of 1904, domestic steamships exported only 393,831 poods of grain abroad, whereas during the poor harvest years of 1901–1903, between 4 and 7 million poods of grain were exported annually through the Danube ports. At the beginning of the 20th century, the Russian fleet’s share of exports from the Danube region was only 3.6%, and its share of imports was 3.1%.
The Black Sea-Danube Shipping Company’s figures were even lower than the Russian fleet’s overall share in commercial shipping in the Black Sea–Azov basin, which in 1885–1895 amounted to 8.4–8.9% of the total number of loaded vessels. Under these conditions, at the beginning of the 20th century, government circles began discussing the issue of nationalizing the company. One of the main reasons for this decision was considered to be “the lack of a convenient sea route, which forced the Russian steamship company to operate solely on state subsidies.”
In January 1903, the journal *Morskoy Flot*, assessing the prospects for commercial shipping on the Danube, noted: “The issue of future shipping between Danube and Black Sea ports requires fundamental changes. The Black Sea–Danube Steamship Company must begin the process of self-liquidation. State-run service between the Danube ports may be revived.” As early as March of that same year, the publication reported: “The Black Sea–Danube Steamship Company is being transferred to the state, which will establish a joint-stock company. The board of directors will be based in St. Petersburg, with management and the main office in Reni. An agency will remain in Odesa."
On September 1, 1903, Emperor Nicholas II approved the creation of a state-owned shipping company—the “Russian Danube Steamship Company” (RDSP)—based on the “Black Sea–Danube Steamship Joint-Stock Company.”
In addition to its commercial activities, the RDSP provided passenger transportation between the Danube ports and Odessa, and also operated the Odessa–Reni–Galatz and Galatz–Reni–Izmail towboat and barge lines—as well as the Kiliya–Odessa–Batumi route. The latter route facilitated the transport of oil and gas from Batumi to Reni, and from there to Serbia and Bulgaria.
The newly established shipping company received state property valued at 1,092,000 rubles, a one-time grant of 1 million rubles, and an annual subsidy of 313,200 rubles. In 1910, the RDP owned 12 steamships and 39 barges with a total capacity of 1,738,000 poods. The shipping company maintained about 50 agencies in Vilkovo, Reni, Izmail, Kiliya, Odessa, Akkerman, Leova, Falchi, Cahul, Marseille, Hamburg, and Berlin.
One of the RDP’s main areas of activity was the expansion of grain transportation along the Prut River. This waterway was considered promising due to its long navigation season, which lasted from 178 to 264 days a year. For example, in 1909, 13,519 thousand poods of grain were exported abroad via the Prut River.
However, as the board of the Russian Danube Steamship Company noted: “The waterway along the Prut River is entirely controlled by foreigners—Greeks—who, for high freight rates, transport Russian grain to Romanian ports.”
The dominance of Greek shipowners was clearly evident in the composition of the fleet. In 1895, 651 vessels operated on the Prut under the Greek flag, while Russia had only two barges. The first Russian steamship, the “Kerch,” and 16 barges did not appear here until 1903. In 1906, the fleet was expanded with two more steamships and 22 barges, with a total capacity of 622,000 poods. At the same time, the Russian State Grain Corporation raised the purchase price of grain by 10 kopecks, which contributed to a 40–50% increase in freight volumes.
Competition for foreign shipowners on the Prut River also came from the Russian-Asian Bank Steamship Company, which owned 14 barges with a capacity of 2,500–4,000 poods each. In a single navigation season, its vessels transported up to 500,000 poods of grain. In 1911, with the aim of strengthening the Russian presence in the region, the Russian-Asian Bank Steamship Company was sold to the Chisinau Zemstvo.
The growth of the Russian fleet quickly led to the expansion of shipping routes. Until 1906, vessels operated only on the 230-kilometer stretch between Reni, Leovo, and Reni. During 1907–1908, the shipping routes were extended by another 586 km—to the villages of Poganest and Nemtsen. In total, Russian merchant ships operated along 916 km of the Prut River, while foreign steamships operated on only 360 km of this waterway.
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Workers at the Port of Reni in the early 20th century. IMAGE: Reni,<span><span><span>Cultural Heritage</span></span></span> Museum
By 1910, there were already 54 Russian vessels operating on the Prut. Between 1904 and 1913, the volume of cargo they transported increased 112-fold—from 35 to 3,922 thousand poods. This weakened the position of foreign companies to some extent: while there were 260 foreign vessels on the Prut River in 1906, their number had fallen to 140 by 1910.
In 1914, vessels of the Russian Danube Steamship Company transported 2,700,000 poods of cargo, accounting for 50.3% of total exports. On the eve of World War I, grain transportation on the Prut River was already predominantly carried out by Russian steamship companies.
The tsarist government continued to finance the development of navigation on the Danube. However, despite significant government support, the steamship company’s financial results remained unsatisfactory. Between 1904 and 1912, the RDP’s revenues totaled 6,604,000 rubles, while expenses reached 8,054,000 rubles. It was not until 1911 that the steamship company ended the year with a profit of 5,000 rubles; in all other years, its operations were unprofitable. Overall, the Russian Danube Steamship Company incurred net losses for the state totaling 1,851,000 rubles.
These results were largely due to the company’s weak commercial activity. The RDP was primarily engaged in coastal shipping and the export of industrial goods, while grain exports remained concentrated in the hands of foreign shipowners. In July 1904, Russia’s representative to the International Prut Commission noted that “Russian entrepreneurs had handed over all river trade to foreigners.”
At the same time, the RDP’s cargo volumes gradually increased. While in 1904 all of the company’s vessels carried 5,495,000 poods of cargo, in 1911–1912 they carried 13,948,000 poods annually. Between 1904 and 1912, the total volume of cargo transported in the region increased 2.5-fold, primarily due to coastal shipping routes to Odesa. During this same period, grain exports from the Danube ports increased more than sixfold—from 4 million to 24.5 million poods.
One of the reasons for the fleet’s weak position was the technical obsolescence of the vessels. As noted, “most owners purchased obsolete, often damaged steamships from abroad, which cost 2–3 times less.”
In 1916, the board of the Russian Danube Steamship Company summarized the development of commercial shipping on the Danube. The report stated: “As of 1912, the Lower Danube had 205 steamships with a total power of 85,555 horsepower and 1,211 barges with a carrying capacity of 641,000 metric tons. Russia had at its disposal 12 steamships with a total power of 1,234 horsepower and 76 barges with a total capacity of 26,000 metric tons. Lacking its own merchant fleet, Russia entrusted the transportation of its goods to foreign shipowners. This situation is detrimental to Bessarabia, as all of its exports are shipped through Romanian ports, which exacerbates its economic dependence on Romania’s trade policy.”
According to regional officials, railways and the Dniester River could serve as alternative routes for exporting goods abroad, connecting the southern counties of Bessarabia with Austria-Hungary and promoting the development of domestic trade in the region. This option was viewed as significantly cheaper and one that did not require economic confrontation with neighboring states.
However, neither the Russian Empire nor modern Ukraine has managed to establish a foothold in Danube trade due to a combination of these factors—limited funding and a lack of adequate protection for national economic interests.
Андрій Шевченко
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