Belorussija

Belorussija was the first ship in the Belorussija Class. It was built as a ferry by MEYER TURKU under Yard Number 1212. In the years that followed, two new names were painted onto its hull: It was first renamed “Kazakhstan II”, and the name “Delphin” has been proudly displayed on the hull since 1996.

A total of five ships in the Belorussija Class were completed at the finnish shipyard, today MEYER TURKU, and delivered to the former Black Sea Shipping Company from 1975 to 1976. The prototype was Belorussija, and the other vessels were also named after constituent states of the USSR: Azerbaydzhan, Kazakhstan, Gruziya and Kareliya. All the structurally identical ships were originally built as ferries. They could transport almost 900 passengers and around 250 vehicles. The Russian sister ships were then converted into cruise liners following the dissolution of the USSR.

The ship formerly known as “Belorussija” was operated by various shipping companies over the course of the decades, including Passat Kreuzfahrten in Germany and Indian companies. It was then used as a hotel ship for the US Navy.