The Russian Society of Shipping and Trade (ROPiT) was a Russian shipping company. It was founded in 1856 to support commercial shipping in the Black Sea region. Although it was a commercial venture, its success relied on substantial government subsidies: at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, ROPiT became the largest steamship company in the Black Sea basin. The company’s vessels were also intended for use as auxiliary fleet ships in wartime.
The history of ROPiT ended in December 1920 in Bizerte, Tunisia. The last ship from Odesa arrived there carrying people from Baron Wrangel’s Russian Army.