In 1973 the Government of the USSR decreed formation of a special shipping corporation, separated from the regular state-owned marine fleet, that could use long-term bare boat charter scheme for purchasing new and used foreign-built vessels. In 1976 the Ministry of Merchant Marine instituted a special fund and the newly formed corporation used it to acquire two 40,000 ton dry cargo transports - Sovfracht and Sovinflot. In 1988 these operations were reorganized as Sovcomflot Joint-Stock Company, a then one-of-a-kind state-owned corporation with special authorization by the USSR Council of Ministers. By 1990 its assets reached a gross tonnage carrying capacity of 1,800,000 DWT tons. A further reorganization in June 1995 confirmed the special status of Sovcomflot as a state-owned business, effective to date. In June 2007President of RussiaVladimir Putin authorized merger of Sovcomflot and Novoship; the state 'invested' its share in Novoship in Sovcomflot capital. The legal procedures were completed in early 2008 and in January 2008 Sovcomflot offered a stock buyout to the remaining minority shareholders of Novoship. The integration of Novoship assets into Sovcomflot operations continues as of August 2008. In August 2017 the Christophe de Margerie, a tanker owned by Sovcomflot, became the first cargo ship to complete the so-called Northern Sea Route without the aid of specialized ice-breaking vessels, completing a journey in the record time of 22 days, from Hammerfest in Norway to Boryeong in South Korea.
Fleet
As of January 2005, according to the Maritime Board of the Russian Government, Sovcomflot owned 45 vessels, with a total capacity of 3,263,000 tons. As of July 2008, the company operated 101 tankers with capacity, 9 dry cargo vessels with capacity, 6 LNG carriers and one passenger vessel. According to Sovcomflot statement, the company's tanker fleet was one of the youngest in the world, with an average age of under 6 years. The most recent additions in 2012, spherical-hold LNG carriers Grand Aniva and Grand Elena, were delivered in January 2008 and October 2007. Four Aframax class tankers, three Panamax class tankers, two membrane-type LNG carriers, Velikiy Novgorod and Pskov, were under construction in South Korean shipyards as of 2012. Most of Sovcomflot ships operate under Liberian registry. The Grand Aniva was mentioned on Series 3 of the BBC program Richard Hammond's Engineering Connections. Two icebreaking supply vessels, Vitus Bering and Aleksey Chirikov, were ordered from Arctech Helsinki Shipyard in December 2010. The vessels are similar to SCF Sakhalin which was purchased from FESCO in 2010.
