Under his command, the Black Sea Fleet was rated for being one of the best formations of the Navy and undertook drills with foreign partners.

In September 2004 they participated in the "Ioniex-2004" drill with the Italian Navy, and they later took part in the NATO-led Operation Active Endeavor in the Mediterranean Sea.

[2] He was in that post until 4 September 2005, when he was appointed the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy,[3] succeeding Admiral of the Fleet Vladimir Kuroyedov.

Masorin assumed command of the Navy in the wake of several high-profile accidents and after years of under-maintenance of the fleet due to a lack of funding.

[7][8] In late 2005 and early 2006, during a controversy between Russia and Ukraine over basing rights in Crimea, Masorin said that the Black Sea Fleet will continue to use the facility until at least 2017.

[1] On 10 July 2006, Masorin was on board a Russian Navy Tupolev Tu-134 which crashed on takeoff from Gvardeyskoye Air Base, Simferopol, Ukraine.

His predecessors as Russian Navy commander-in-chief previously making official visits to Washington were Fleet Admirals Vladimir Chernavin and Felix Gromov.