The Russian Steam Navigation and Trading Company ( or ROPiT, also referred as Russian S.N.Co.) of Odessa was one of the biggest joint stock steamship companies in Imperial Russia. It was established in 1856 and ceased to exist in 1918 due to nationalization after the revolution in Russia. In 1858 the company obtained a 24-year contract for usage of the port of Villafranca Marittima, on the Mediterranean with the Kingdom of Sardinia. From 1863 to 1914 all Russian post offices in the Ottoman Empire were run by the ROPiT. In 1901 it had a fleet of 72 steamships. Company stock was listed on Saint-Petersburg Stock Exchange.

ROPiT fleet

Passenger lines

The company also offered passenger rides. For example, weekly services on the routes "Constantinople-Smyrna-Piraeus-Alexandria, Constantinople-Odessa" - every fortnight the Bulgarian ports of Burgas and Varna were also called in - and "Constantinople–Sevastopol". By 1914 the ROPiT operated a direct line from Odessa via Constantinople to Alexandria and a round trip line and a "Macedonian line" there. Also Black Sea cruises were offered. So changed weekly the "Bulgarian-Anatolian line" from Odessa to Burgas, Constantinople and Trebizond to Batum and the "Anatolian Line" from Constantinople to Batum.