Volga-Don Shipping Canal nears its capacity limit
The demand for oil product shipments through the Volga-Don Shipping Canal in 2013, let alone other cargos, is expected to be 11 million tonnes, while the canal projected capacity stands at 10.5 million tonnes, a canal authority official said on Monday.
Oleg Shakhmardanov, head of Volga-Don State Basin Authority of Inland Waterways and Shipping told the Rosmorrechflot’s Council meeting in Moscow that it is urgent to schedule and distribute proportionally the transits passing via the canal locks from start to the end of navigational season. He noted that in April ship transits make up only a third of those in August. Shakhmardanov offered to accelerate implementation of the automated traffic control system. But even with smooth operation of all the waterways facilities these measures will not allow to increase the traffic volume by more than 5%, the official said.
Shakhmardanov attributed the poor canal throughput capacity to the unstable levels of the lower Don caused by insufficient water volume in the Tsimlyansk Reservoir.
To solve this problem, Shakhmardanov said, it is urgent to implement the long-standing project of Bagayevsky water engineering system.
