Actuality September, 2007

Within the next five or seven years in the Arkhangelsk region deep-water seaport will be built, and railway and highway will be rendered to it. It will be the beginning of new life of the Northern sea way.

And by 2020 14 new ice breakers will come off the stocks.

The head of Federal agency of sea and river transport (Rosmorrechflot) Alexander Davydenko has told about these plans.

By preliminary estimate, about 2 billion rubles are required for building of new port and roads. According to Davydenko’s words, there are already those who wish to invest half of this sum in the project, but the “name” of the private investor is kept in a secret. In addition Ministry of Transport is going to fight for the money of the Investment fund from which it intends to get 50% of necessary means. Whether it will be later issued in the concessionary agreement isn’t known yet. Th is matter

is discussed.

Plans for the Northern seaway “revival” began to find real outlines in May when the President Vladimir Putin gave to the Ministry of Transport and to the Federal agency of sea and river transport the commission to raise the competitiveness of the Russian ports. For last 17 years cargo turnover in the Northern seaway reduced in 5-6 times. Practically, all northern ports became unclaimed and appeared on the verge of survival.

Though, they had all northern deliveries, this work is too small for business development.

If there is no offer of services, there is no shipper. However, the carrier will find the way out in any case; and this has already happened. As it is asserted in Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Area, “cargoes passed by the ports of Salekhard and Labytnang”.

Recently to Arkhangelsk, Naryan-Mar, Pechora and Salekhard the “special mission” of inspection of sea and river authorities landed to examine ports’ conditions and to pave the way for the beginning of northern ports modernization process. Because in the nearest years the work at the large pools of oil and gas, that were found on that shelf, will increase. Just on the only Shtokmanovsk field these reserves are estimated over three billion cubic meters. In the same place, in the North, Timano-Pechorsk oil-and-gas province as well as deposits of the North-Onega bauxites, complex ore and manganese are also located. Development of these and other fields can soon turn out to the substantial growth of cargo traffic; and it will be too difficult or even impossible for Russian ports because for a decade and a half they have become outdated. In some ports, in Naryan-Mar for example, there are still wooden harbor walls which are going to ruin about everybody’s ears.

In 2006 the well-known port Osetrovo on the river Lena was shocked by an overabundance of cargoes; in spite of the fact that the Federal agency of sea and river transport warned about these possibilities in advance. Alexander Davydenko said that “In August they complained that there was no work; but and in October cargoes appeared in such volumes, that instead of 800 thousand it was necessary to transport 2,5 million tons for a year. For this purpose all fleet

was raised.

Even that was “written off” was put on the stocks”.

At the same time as the experts are sure the Northern sea way can easily and completely provide strategic safety of Russia as it goes through Russian waters it does not depend on anyone else. Using this way it is possible to transport any cargo from Pacific Ocean to Atlantic one safely and for the shortest period of time. Davydenko continued that “now Northern Sea way works abnormally, but our aim for the nearest years is to reverse the situation, not by the reviving an old infrastructure, but by developing new united infrastructural object”.

It will include not only new deep-water port, automobile and railway, but also the enlarged icebreaker fleet. Seven atomic ice breakers work there now. According to Davydenko, in 2008 one of them, ” Arctica

“, will have to stop working, as it has already reached the end of its service life of 100 thousand work hours.

The term was prolonged twice already; at first, to 150 thousand, then

to 175 thousand.

This winter it will end.

By 2020 it is planned to build 14 ice breakers, including the newest atomic ones.

Their draft design is being developed now. The Federal agency of sea and river transport managed to get 390 million rubles from the budget for this design. Besides two battle ice breakers are built now too. One of them, “Moscow”, should be finished this year. Davydenko explained, “For the maintenance of icebreaking fleet specialized enterprise will be created. Primarily, for its organization and maintenance of ice breakers 3 billion rubles will be transferred.

This money should be appropriated from the federal budget. Further we plan to attract commercial structures to share these expenses”.

Speaking about north marine ports it is important at least to repair some of them, and other ones to reconstruct. A new deep-water terminal near Arkchangelsk will be able to transship to 30 million tons of fertilizers from Bereznikovskoe and Solikamskoe deposits in a year.

And also containers and bulk cargos will be transshipped in amount of 15-20 million tons on the first stage with further attainment of 50 million tons. Now a number of tankers of ice class of 50-60 thousand tons’ displacement are already being built, and they are ready to call these ports and embark. It is also planned to build a railway to Murmansk port. But the last word is still after railroaders.

But it is only a part of the problem. Davydenko specified, “The trouble is that in Russia for a long time development of different types of transport was planned separately from each other; moreover the laws of logistic were not taken into account.

That’s why it just happened that there are ports, but cargos go by them. So the development of the Northern seaway is now impossible without ports

development and renewal of rivers navigability. Therefore one more important problem is necessary to be solved: unsilting, which will give the possibility for heavy-load ships to sail the rivers. There are 102,000 kilometers of served internal water-ways in Russia, and about half of them need to be deepened”.

Information:
The Northern sea way, at first named North-Eastern passage-

way, is the main navigable way of Russia in Arctic. It goes by the seas of the Arctic Ocean, connecting European and Far-Eastern ports. It stretches from Kara gateway to Providence Bay for 5 600,00 km. The Northern seaway serves ports of Arctic and large rivers. Cargos are delivered by this way to the regions of the Far North; basic ports are Igarka, Dudinka, Dikson, Tiksi, Pevek, and Providence.