Waterborne traffic on the Volga-Don Canal drops 21% in the 2022 navigation season
The number of vessel transits through the basin decreased by 12%
The transit of icebreaker Kapitan Demidov-led convoy of five dry bulk carriers from Rostov-on-Don to the exit from Lock No. 1 in severe ice conditions finalized navigation season on the Volga-Don Shipping Canal (VDSC). Waterborne freight transport during the season reached 10.210.000 tonnes, which represents 79% on 2021 results (12 million 646 thousand tonnes). Almost 56.900 lockage operations were performed, which amounted to 78% compared to 2021, Rosmorrechflot reports.
During the period, the ship canal handled 7.935 vessel transits, which is 12% less than a year earlier. The actual duration of the navigation situation on the main inland waterways amounted to 245 days and correspond to the planned ones.
The state programme for the maintenance of inland waterways has been fulfilled in all respects. The 311-km Volgograd-Volgodonsk stretch maintained the guaranteed depths; the 509-km-long stretch of navigable waterway out of 2187.5 km of inland waterways in the basin, have guaranteed dimensions for ship transit, of which 300 km are equipped with illuminated navaids and 198 km are equipped with reflective navigation signs, 11 km are equipped with non-illuminated signs. Maintenance dredging of inland waterways has been completed in full (587.000 cbm of dredged material) which ensured guaranteed dimensions.
The maintenance and hydrographic work on inland waterways was carried out by the technical fleet, including eight buoy tenders, five dredgers with support fleet, five floating cranes, four snag boats for bottom cleaning and three survey expeditions.
To keep inland waterways with guaranteed depths, 878 navigational signs were deployed and maintained, including 478 floating and 400 coastal ones, of which 609 were illuminated.
As of December 1, 2022, port state control inspectors conducted 166 inspections of ships and floating facilities, including 21 passenger and RoPax ships. They identified 473 violations of compliance requirements. 34 ships were detained, including 16 passenger ones.
From November 29 to December 4, the buoy tender teams removed the floating signs of the navigational fences of the ship passages.
The Volga-Don Shipping Canal is a unique hydraulic engineering structure, a key link in the Unified Deep Water System, connecting the ports of Baltic and White seas, Caspian and Azov-Black Sea basins. 96 large hydraulic engineering structures were installed on the ship canal with a length of 101 km, including 13 locks, 3 pumping stations, 2 emergency repair barriers, 22 canals, ferry lines, 20 dams and other structures.
