PORT FLEET marks 15th anniversary

CJSC PORT FLEET is celebrating the 15th anniversary of its incorporation. Throughout the years PORT FLEET has evolved into the largest company in the Northwest Russia, which operates in the port services segment. The company has gained extensive experience in dredging, towing, bunkering, environmental services, icebreaking services and ship repair provided to its customers.

For any major seaport the port service is not just a common business, but is also an element of competitiveness of the port. Because the price and quality of the services at the port may influence the shipowner decision whether to call to a particular port. Therefore, to improve the efficiency of the services provided to ships in November 1997 an independent company was created on the basis of port fleet of JSC Sea Port of Saint-Petersburg, under the brand name PORT FLEET. Today, the company provides a significant part of all service operations in the port of St. Petersburg and the neighboring ports of the Russian part of the Gulf of Finland.

PORT FLEET has always been engaged in operation of service and support vessels. Currently, the company operates a fleet of 30 vessels (tugs, bunkering tankers and oil barges) and is capable of performing any task for comprehensive servicing of vessels, both in the harbor of St. Petersburg, and behind its limits. Previously, from 1997 to 2007, PORT FLEET had operated state-owned icebreakers in the port of St. Petersburg. Then, these functions were transferred to the created in 2005 company Rosmorport for the management of state property at the country’s seaports.

Besides, the company has experienced in dredging and land reclamation. In 2005, PORT FLEET won as part of an international consortium in a bidding process for the construction of sea passenger terminal "Marine Façade" on Vasilievsky Island in St. Petersburg. The company was awarded a dredging and land reclamation contract. Within the same project, PORT FLEET independently submitted bid and won on the contract to perform work associated with the reconstruction of Petrovsky fairway of the port of St. Petersburg, as well as the construction of the approach channel (relocation of utilities with associated dredging). The contract was executed in conjunction with JSC PODVODRECHSTROY-1 and Severneftestroy.

Towing
Yet, the basic services PORT FLEET has been providing throughout the years to vessels is towing and mooring operations.
LLC Ecological Fleet is an operator of CJSC PORT FLEET performing towing operations. The company operates 11 tugboats, including six new generation tugs, built in 2005-2006 at Russian Pella Shipyard: Evgeniy Kocheshkov, Neptune, Leonid Bochkov, Peterhof, Pavlovsk and Sestroretsk. The state-of-the-art tugs feature full revolving rudder propeller system, which enables high maneuverability of the vessels, to execute a 360º turn, to perform ship handling from any direction and being able to change the direction of its thrust almost instantaneously. The utilization of these harbor tugs reduces an average docking operation time as much as 20-30%, compared with the common configuration tugboats.

Besides, the Pavlovsk and the Sestroretsk are equipped for firefighting at the ports of the Gulf of Finland. In the spring of this year, the six tugs were registered in the Russian International Ship Register (RISR).

General Director of PORT FLEET Yevgeny Savkin comments: "Registration of our tugs in RISR became possible after the enactment of the Federal Law № 305 on measures to support Russian shipping and shipbuilding. It grants a special status to our fleet both in the domestic and international markets of towing services, provides for reduction of some operating costs, and thus improves the efficiency of our fleet. I think, the Port Fleet’s next step would be an investment decision on the construction of new tugboats at Russian shipyards. We’ve been considering such an opportunity."

Other tugs of the company have already been operating on international routes. The tugs Uranus and Mercury are certified to perform escort towing between the ports of the Baltic, North and Norwegian Seas. The most powerful tug of the company - Pluton - can operate in harbors of sea ports and escort floating facilities, drilling rigs. The tugs Eridan and Fog are engaged in towing operations in the Gulf of Finland, escorting ships and other floating facilities.

The PORT FLEET tugs perform the most complicated operations at the port – assist FSOs to offshore anchorage, escort sailboats and warships under drawbridges of St. Petersburg. In the winter season the company’s fleet escort ice-covered ships. In 2010 the company’s tugs successfully escorted the French aircraft carrier Mistral from the port of St. Petersburg.

Environmental services
LLC Ecological Fleet also provides service for collection, transportation and disposal of shipboard wastes. The company fully controls every step of the process from collection to decontamination or disposal providing integrated solutions for handling hazardous wastes. This ensures maximum environmental safety at Big Port St. Petersburg and other ports in the Russian part of the Gulf of Finland, where the company operates its fleet. To meet customers’ requirements and create a system of continuous improvement the company had introduced the management system that  meet the requirements of ISO 9001:2008 and MS ISO 14001:2004.

LLC Ecological Fleet operates special vessels for the collection and transportation of wastes (garbage, blackwater and oily water), the oily water treatment and waste disposal facilities, as well as containers and specialized vehicles.

The oily water received from ships are delivered for disposal to the company’s own oily water treatment facilities: "Ecomarine-1" and "Ecomarine-3." Oily waste is taken from ships in accordance with the "Regulation of waste collection at the port of St. Petersburg from ships, subject to mandatory environmental fee", adopted at the port in 2006. Blackwater, shipboard wastes are delivered to Ecomarine-2.

The eco division of PORTFLEET provides services for disinfection of port facilities (piers, containers, dock yards, etc.).

The eco fleet includes the Don, a water-tank boat of capacity of 750 tons. To improve the quality of potable water supplied to ships, the Ecological Fleet has commissioned its own water treatment facility of capacity of 60 cbm / hour.

Bunkering business
PORT FLEET has its own bunkering division, established in 2008 - LLC Saturn, operating in the market of barging services in the ports of St. Petersburg, Primorsk, Ust-Luga and Vyborg. The company currently operates a tanker fleet, which consists of 3 modern bunkering vessels of a total deadweight of over 6,500 tons designed to transport and handle different types of fuels simultaneously.
"The high level of service and competitive prices are ensured by highly qualified staff. Therefore, over the past three years our major customers are bunkering units of major Russian oil companies Gazprom Oil and LUKOIL,” said Yevgeny Savkin.
Ship repair

PORT FLEET’s LLC Eridan founded in 2007 the company carrying out repairs of vessels in ports of the North-West region, certified by Russian Maritime Register of Shipping and Russian River Register.

PORT FLEET CEO Yevgeny Savkin comments: “JSC PORT FLEET workforce is now around 500. The company's top management is committed to providing all employees a high level of social protection, guaranteed benefits and remuneration under the Collective labor contract.”

“I am grateful to our company’s employees and all of our customers who have helped make PORT FLEET the best service company in the port of St. Petersburg! We value your trust and we will continue to meet all of the obligations the company is committed to.”