MOSCOW, December 23. /TASS/. A business resident of the Kuril Islands preferential regime will launch the first Pacific cruise in the Far East, press service of the Corporation for the Development of the Far East and the Arctic said.

"Russia's first Pacific cruise line in the post-COVID time will start operating in 2026. Specifically for the Far Eastern routes, the company's fleet will receive a modern diesel-electric ship of more than 200 meters long - the Astoria Nova liner under the Russian flag," the press service said.

The route will begin from Vladivostok, then will run to Sakhalin (Korsakov) and to the Kuril Islands (the Iturup, the Kunashir) to end in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. The return voyage to Vladivostok will have a stop at the Commander Islands. The plan is to include Magadan, Nikolaevsk-on-Amur and the Shantar Islands in the route in 2027.

"By establishing a company in the Kuril Islands, the business launches the long-awaited cruise project, and also makes the islands for the first time accessible to mass tourism. The business resident status gives us investment preferences for 20 years, and we may implement the project as efficiently as possible and offer travelers the highest level of service," Ruscruise's press service said.

On board the Astoria Nova, travelers will use eight themed restaurants and bars, a theater and concert hall for 1,000 seats, a spa complex, a fitness center, an outdoor swimming pool and other five-star hotel services. "The ship will be a comfortable floating hotel, and every stop will be a unique journey with a busy sightseeing program. This is a fundamentally new product for Russia," Intermarine Cruise Ferry Management's CEO Igor Glukhov said.

The new line is expected to provide the port of Vladivostok with additional 40,000 passengers per year, and the terminal in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky - with up to 20,000 people. "The project's aim is to present the tourism potential of the Far Eastern waters - the Primorye, the Sakhalin, the Kuril Islands, Kamchatka. The growing numbers of passengers will be an incentive to upgrade port infrastructures in the Far East," Rosmorport's CEO Sergey Pylin said.