‘Surakhani’ Ship Museum

The ‘Suraxani’ or ‘Surakhani’ is a former oil tanker that contains a ship museum. It is moored on the Caspian Sea alongside the Baku Boulevard in the Sabayil area in the south-east of the city of Baku. Azerbaijan was significant in the early use of oil tankers, which have been vital for energy supply over the last century and a half. The 123-m ‘Suraxani’ began work in 1957 and had a deadweight of 4,696 tons. It was in use until 2017 and the museum opened in 2021. Interactive displays, virtual reality and models relate the histories of global shipping, the Caspian Sea and oil production at Baku. Visitors can walk the decks and enter the ‘bridge’ where the officers commanded the ship, the cabins of the crew, the radio room and the engine room. Activities allow visitors to learn to manoeuvre a ship, tie rope knots and read Morse code.