NEWS
A BRIEF ILLUSTRATED HISTORY OF BALTIC SHIPPING COMPANY. 1960-1980th by Andrey Nelogov
ISBN 978-5-86983-901-5 - Language: Russian
Hard cover, 256 pp., 215 x 245 mm, about 300 photos - First published in Russia May, 2019 by Lubavitch Printing House, Saint-Petersburg
This book presents a brief illustrated history of one of the largest Soviet merchant marine fleet operators - the Baltic Shipping Compa-ny, which was headquartered in Leningrad. It covers the period from the mid-60s to the end-80s. It was precisely at this time that the company attained its peak, and had a significant impact on the ship-ping market.
In this book, the author was guided by an information about the Baltic Shipping Company (BSC) is given in a brief form, with complete and accurate data on the fleet of the company, its standing within the USSR Ministry of Merchant Marine, as well as the organizational structure of the company.
The book is, at its core, a medium-length photographic album, with a focus on photos rather than text, resembling the style of other illustrated books about shipping companies. This book contains every type of vessel from the company's fleet (as of 1985) along with key characteristics. In addition to the photographs of vessels there is a significant, but reasonable (in the opinion of the author) number of photographs that reveal certain features of the life and work of Soviet sailors, the company's management and administrative staff, the "home" port of Leningrad, and other enterprises that were part of the BSC.
Statistical data has been collected by the author from various reputable and reliable sources, such as Register Books, official reference books of the USSR Ministry of Merchant Marine fleet, and records of the Baltic Shipping Company. The statistical data compiled by the author is being published for the first time, and as far as he is aware, no comparable publications exist.
Most of the included images are photographs from the author's own collection, which have previously never been published. These unique photos are ordered as a lively and dynamic sequence of images. They portray not only the vessels, but also the people who worked on these ships, as well as onshore-based employees of the company. This gives a more accurate image of the functioning of the company, which was fundamentally different from most of its foreign contemporaries. Many of the photos are not devoid of humour and evoke a sense of irony.
The author believes that the book may be useful not only to those readers who are interested in the history of the merchant marine, but also to a wider audience that is interested in the everyday life of the Soviet Union, displayed neutrally and objectively. The time period captured by the photographs allows to see the way that both people and companies, and, in a broader sense, the country, were changing during this tumultuous time period
A few words about the author. Andrey Nelogov born in 1969 in Leningrad. From 1986 to 1992 studied at the Makarov Naval Engineering College, faculty of Maritime Transport, graduating with an Engineering Management degree. From 1991 to 1996 worked for the Baltic Shipping Company, in the ocean liner department (Baltamerika line), then in other logistics companies. From 2004 to present is director of the United Transport.