 Formation of the first convoy was delayed owing to the lack of Arctic-ready transport ships that had to be assembled from the Black Sea and Baltic Sea fleets, or built at the Dalzavod yards in Vladivostok.Ships of the first large convoy – "Litke", six transport ships and a motor schooner, towing 26 smaller craft and carrying 867 passengers, most of them convicts, – sailed from Vladivostok individually between 27 June and 5 July 1932.