Neva-Leader ships of project RSD49 carried 1 mln t of cargo
Seven dry cargo ships of project Neva-Leader (RSD49) put into operation by North-Western Shipping Company OJSC from November 2012 till January 2014, have carried 1 mln t of cargo including project and oversized cargo, grain, fertilizers and metal, press center of the shipping company says.
All in all, Neva-Leader ships made 14 voyages with oversized cargo. In January-September 2014, there were 7 shipments of equipment from the ports of Southern and Northern Europe to the Caspian Sea, Volga region and Saint-Petersburg.
In the nearest months, Neva-Leader sips will transport grain, metal and fertilizers between Russian and foreign ports of the southern seas and the Baltic Sea.
Currently, the RSD49 vessels of 7,000 DWT are so far the largest of dry cargo ships in Russia that satisfy the dimensions of Volga-Don Shipping Canal. The vessels have three holds, one of them is 51 meter long. The series of 10 vessels will be completed by North-Western Shipping Company in 2015.
Commissioning of new vessels and decommissioning of the old ones enabled North-Western Shipping Company to decrease the average age of its fleet from 18 to 14 years over the 2-year period, the statement says.
The vessels are being built under the programme for large-scale renovation of VBTH fleet. VBTH is the shipping division of UCL Holding. The programme foresees the construction of 60 dry cargo and liquid bulk cargo ships under 5 different projects. As of today, shipping companies of VBTH have accepted delivery of 57 vessels.
North-Western Shipping Company is the largest carrier in Russia’s water transport system, specializing in shipping import / export general cargo, bulk and loose dry cargo, tugging of oversized cargo and vessels. The company operates 55 sea-and-river-going cargo ships, 10 sea-going vessels and 3 ro-ro barges with total deadweight of 300,000 tonnes. The NWS Company transports 6 million tonnes of different cargo a year.
The Company is a member of VBTH, a shipping division of UCL Holding (majority owner of VBTH), consolidating also a number of Russian rail, stevedoring and logistics assets. The division also includes Volga Shipping Company, V.F.Tanker, several cruise and shipbuilding companies.
