Belyana information

A belyana (Russian: Беляна) is a type of large disposable ship that was used for timber rafting along the rivers Volga and Kama from the end of the 16th century until the middle of the 20th century. Belyanas were among the largest wooden ships ever built, with the largest ones being up to 120 metres (390 ft) long with a load capacity up to 12,800 tons.

Belyanas were built in the Upper Volga region of Russia without any special tools or plans. Never motorized, after 1870 they also had no sails and could only float downriver, using specialized anchors to turn and stop. Each year in the 18th and 19th centuries hundreds of belyanas were built and floated to Astrakhan, where they were entirely dismantled and the wood sold. With the development of railroads in the Soviet Union, belyanas became too complex and too expensive; the last belyana was built in 1939.

In 2015 tourists found the remains of a wooden ship in the Vetluga river; archaeologists determined that it was an 80-meter-long belyana that caught fire some 350 years ago and was abandoned by its crew. It is the only known finding of such a vessel.