Thank you all for all the valuable information

All soviet seagoing tankers of merchant fleet based on Black sea, after Sovtanker was merged with Black sea shipping company until 1967 were operated by mentioned company. In 1967 BLASCO became quite cumbersome and difficult in management. So, Ministry of Merchant Fleets of USSR decided to split its fleet into some locally based companies. The same process was undergoing in all basins, except northern. Anyway those companies were under direct management of USSR central government unlike river fleets, which subordinated to local republican governments.

Many thanks Gentlemen for your most interesting and informative comments. As the same photographer was at Hoek van Holland on 28th May 1970 (see ATLANTICA), and I had photographed IZYASLAV outbound on 3rd June 1970, this inbound photograph may have been taken on or about 28th May. It is interesting that Dmitriy has more detailed information on the vessel than the much respected and normally very detailed Soviet fleetphoto website: https://fleetphoto.ru/vessel/68535/

She started her carrer in Black Sea shipping company of Odessa and transferred to newly established Novorossiysk unit of Black Sea shipping company on 11th of May 1964 and subsequently transferred to Batumi, probably in 1967, when Georgian Shipping Company was formed.

I was an employee of that same shipping company in Batumi and at that time. The correct name of the tanker is IZYASLAV or ИЗЯСЛАВ in Cyrillic script. Though originally she was named and registered as IZYASLAVL OR ИЗЯСЛАВЛЬ in Cyrillic and the same version one can find on the Kherson Shipyard's list. Cheers !

Thank you Joerg and Malcolm

She was built in 1959 for the Soviet Union at Kherson (Ukraine) and allocated to the Georgian Shipping Company of Batumi (so she was not Russian as such)

Hello Adrian,

this is IZYASLAV (IMO 5166172)

Best regards
Joerg