Russian grain transit via Ukrainian ports has decreased 19 times from the beginning of the year. During two months of the current year the majority of Ukrainian ports handled no Russian grain while earlier a significant portion of Russian export grain used to go through the ports of Ukraine. Experts say transit loss should be attributed to the decrease of transportation tariffs in Russia which stimulated export via national facilities

During last navigation period tanker company Navigator accounted for some 30% of oil products carried by inland waterways of the Russian Federation towards the ports of the southern basin. The company plans not to decrease the volume of traffic and to carry 1- 1.2 million tonnes of cargo during the coming season

Philipp Nikonov, BOD Chairman of NefteTransServis CJSC and ex-Vice-President of Transnefteproduct OJSC, tells PortNews IAA about rail transportation of oil products and fuel logistics

On February 26, an extended meeting of the RorMorRechFlot (Russia’s Federal Agency of Marine and River Transport) was held in the Ministry of Transport. A report on major operational results of maritime and inland water transport in 2008 and tasks for 2009 was provided by Aleksandr Davydenko, head of RorMorRechFlot

For the last two months the number of idle container carriers increased 2.2 times up to total capacity of 800,000 TEU which accounts for 6.5% of the entire fleet’s container capacity. This is twice as much as total capacity of unemployed ships in notorious March of 2002 (3.2%) and even larger than the 5% reached in 1986. Such large-scale laying up of vessels is caused by continuing decrease of container services due to overcapacity in the current market against trivial lack of cargo

Growing cargo traffic in seaports raises the risk of emergency situations related to oil spills. In 2008, 12 of 20 oil spills in Russian seaports were registered in the Big Port of St. Petersburg. The majority of them happened during bunkering operations. This fact was one of the reasons for RF Ministry of Transport to look deeper into operation of companies handling hazardous cargo in the port of St. Petersburg

Dmitri Atlashkin, head of the North-West Department for the maritime and river supervision (DMRS) of the Federal Service for Transport Supervision, tells PortNews IAA about the Department’s performance in 2008

NEVA 2009 - 10th International Shipping, Shipbuilding, Ports and Offshore Energy Exhibition where Russian and international maritime and offshore companies meet and do business. The bedrock of this confidence, and the reason why NEVA 2009 (September 22 -25, St Petersburg) has already drawn such high levels of domestic and international support, is Russia’s long term commitment – supported by a clearly defined strategy and financing – to the further development of its transport system, maritime and offshore industries.

A terminal for transshipment of grain will be put into operation in the port of Tuapse this February. It is the second project on construction of grain handling facilities in southern ports of Russia to have been launched within the last two years. In June 2008, similar terminal was put into operation by Novorossiysk Grain Terminal OJSC. However experts say port infrastructure is still deficient for adequate export of grain cargo

In 2008, throughput of Russia’s port complex totaled 454.6 million tonnes (+1.1%, year-on-year). Against the 7.2-pct growth of the previous year the result of 2008 is more than a modest one. Experts say stevedoring industry was considerably influenced by the global crisis in 2008