Beljana
A Beljana is a boat made of wood, which in Russia - especially the river systems of the Volga and the Kama was used to carry timber -. The basin of the Wetluga River was known for the construction of Beljanen . Belianas were mainly built in the 19th century, and they flourished at the same time as steam navigation on the Volga. The up to 500 steamships on the Volga needed large amounts of wood to propel them.
The length of a beljana was up to 100 meters, the width 25 meters, the height 5 meters. The loading capacity of a Beljana could be up to 10,000 tons.
Beljanen were only designed for one trip, were loaded with wood on the upper reaches of the river and completely dismantled at the point of arrival, whereby the wood used for shipbuilding was also used. Since they were only designed for one journey, the Beljanen were not tarred; the light, "white" debarked wood that was used to build them gave the ships their name. In addition to wood, textile fibers and the like were rarely transported. Sails made of bast fibers were used for navigation.
Frequent destinations for the Belyan were Saratov , Tsaritsyn , today's Volgograd , and Astrakhan .