Amu Darya
The official beginning of organized navigation on the Amu Darya occurred in 1873. Steamboats began plying the Amu Darya in 1888, with reassembly and launching of a Russian-built steamboat delivered to Çärjew in pieces. Navigation was hindered by the constantly shifting sandbars and islands that the river current formed and swept away. In 1917 there were on the Amu Darya between 20 and 50 self-propelled vessels and about 1500 boats. In 1923 the Central Asian Turkmenabat Shipping Company began providing services to Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and 10 regions of Kazakhstan, and transported loads by water across 1500 kilometers.