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  • 2017 May 16

    Yalta to welcome cruises

    The port of Yalta is going to become profitable in 2017 after a loss of RUB 156 mln. The Port Director Denis Volkov is set to build up transshipment of cargo delivered from mainland Russia and make transportation of tourists  by the port’s own fleet surge six times, not including the plans on Sochi – Yalta ferry service. That will be facilitated by the recent launching of the port reconstruction with budget allocations of RUB 2.6 bln.

    Facing Sochi

    GlavGosEkspertiza  (Russia’s General Board of State Expert Review)  approved the project on Yalta seaport reconstruction in early April. Under the Programme on Social and Economic Development of the Republic of Crimea and the City of Sevastopol till 2020, budget allocations for the reconstruction make RUB 2.6 bln.

    As Denis Volkov, Director of the port of Yalta, told IAA PortNews, the reconstruction will cover 26 hydraulic engineering facilities including 12 berths on the southern coast of Crimea (between Simeiz and Sudak), three cargo berths in Massandra, 9 passenger berths in Yalta and three coast protection projects. According to him, many of the berths are out of operation and require renovation. GlavGosEkspertiza estimates the port infrastructure depreciation at 87%.

    Crimean Ministry of Transport told IAA PortNews that the port of Yalta can accept and service cruise ships of up to 200 metres in length and up to 10 metres in draught, as well as motor yachts of any class.

    “The previous years’ statistics shows that the port can be considered as adequately competitive in this segment of the Crimea region market. However, amid the political situation in the region and sanctions imposed on the companies operating on the peninsula, these activities should be focused on the lines linking the ports of the Black Sea. In particular, there is a plan to arrange a Yalta-Sochi link,” said the Ministry.

    Passenger transportation

    Vessels coming from Sochi will dock at the berth No 2 (length - 176 m, depth – 7.4–9.2 m) on the Roosevelt street 5. In March, divers examined the bottom at the berth for foreign objects. Repair of the berth pavement and breakwater walls is to be completed in May. Besides, fenders are to be placed and the inner façade of the terminal building is to be repaired during the same period, said the Ministry. Also, an area will be prepared for cruise buses.

    In 2016, the port of Yalta carried 47,100 passengers by its own fleet. Denis Volkov says the port is going to carry up to 300,000 passengers this year, not including passengers coming by cruise ships from Sochi. Besides, after the reconstruction the port is set to build up accepting and servicing of vessels to raise the number of calls and the revenues.

    In the navigation season of 2017, the port will service passengers with two vessels of Project 10110 (m/v Margeit and m/v Vladimir Lugovskoi for 250 passengers each) and three vessels of Project 1430 (m/v Konstantin Paustovsky, m/v Koktebel and m/v Konstantin Stanyukovich for 200 passengers each). The ships will carry tourists from Yalta to Sudak, Lastochkino Gnezdo, Mishor, Nikitsky Botanic Garden, Gurzuf, Nikitsky, Partenit and Professorsky Ugolok (Alushta). All the points have their own berths.

    The fleet of the port numbers 27 units, part of them is out of operation and requires considerable injections, says the Ministry of Transport. Obsolete vessels that have recently left Yalta for Massandra are waiting for decommissioning. Thus, the berths in the city are prepared for cruise ships from Sochi.

    Cargo transshipment

    Massandra facilities handle mainly construction materials, loose and inert cargoes intended for domestic use and delivered from the Russian ports of the Azov and Black Sea. Throughput of Yalta in 2016 totaled 144,800 t. Foreign sips do not come to Yalta from 2014. The port is now looking into starting exports of metal scrap to Turkey (about 2,000 t per quarter).

    The port is going to increase transshipment of sand to 20,000 t per month (240,000 t per year). That result was already achieved in April. Besides, Denis Volkov hopes for accepting new types of cargo— food and packaged cargo from Russia as well as any import cargo, though there are no agreements with foreigners. According to Volkov, Turkish partners do not reject partnership but negotiations have not lead to any practical results yet.

    Money

    The port revenues in 2016 totaled RUB 63.8 mln with the expenses making RUB 219.7 mln (the loss is RUB 155.9 mln). The salaries make the bulk of the port’s expenses - 53% (117 mln). The port employs 276 people with average salary of RUB 35,339 per month. Taxes and payments to state funds account for some 37%, the rest is made by payments for utilities.

    The income is mostly made by revenues coming from cargo transshipment in Massandra, from passenger transportation by the port’s own fleet, from servicing other passenger ships, port dues and leasehold.

    To reduce losses the port is carrying out inventory procedures and market-value appraisal of property for further leasing out. Also, he port is going to decommission part of its vessels being out of service and requiring high expenses.

    “The prospects are quite bright. I think, we will end the year of 2017 without a loss due to high quality operation in the summer navigation period and increased cargo throughput,”  Denis Volkov believes.

    Aleksandr Alikin

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