Physical characteristics of the Caspian Sea basin determine specific features for commercial shipping. Currently, merchant marine fleets in the Caspian Sea are represented by different types of vessels such as bulk carriers, oil tankers, barges, road and rail ferries. The majority of ships operating in the Caspian Sea is mixed river-sea navigation vessels, which has relatively small tonnage – 3-5 thousand tons. However, low-tonnage ships could not provide the appropriate level of oil cargo transportation, which is the most profitable part of the commercial shipment in the Caspian Sea.