The European Union imposed restrictions on Russian coal imports while Poland banned them completely. The capacity of eastwards railways limits the deliveries to the Far East ports hence the growth of coal shipments to the ports of the Southern Basin.

FSBI Marine Rescue Service is on the sanctions list of U.S. Department of the Treasury due to its involvement in construction of Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. Apart from search and rescue of people in distress and response to oil spills at sea, the company ensures safety of Russia’s most offshore projects in the Okhotsk and Caspian seas and in the Arctic. In his interview with IAA PortNews, MRS head Victor Chernov tells about a balance between commercial revenues and public expenditure in view of new sanctions and delivery of hydraulic engineering facilities in 2022-2023.

In March 2022, container throughput of the Baltic Basin ports affected by the sanctions fell by 44% to 123,000 TEUs. The market players expect further plunging of container turnover to 95%. What is the future of container facilities the excess of which continues aggravating?

Dependence of Russian shipbuilding on imported components and equipment is different in various segments. The most dependent are the fishing and research segments, the least – cargo ships of mixed sea/river class. There are problems with engines, diesel generators and special equipment

As IAA PortNews is informed, RF Ministry of Finance will estimate the proposals of ad hoc ministries on zero-rated VAT for ship repair in Russia by the end of April. The initiative may both reduce the cost of repair in Russia and return Russian ships to domestic repair facilities while helping ship owners avoid problems caused by sanctions. However, experts note lack of ship repair facilities in Russia and emphasize the need of additional customs regulation.

The Paris Climate Agreement foresees drastic reduction of coal, oil and natural gas use regardless of sanctions. Undoubtedly, global decarbonisation will continue which offers opportunities for Russia to develop gas-to-chemicals including production of methanol which is getting increasingly promising fuel, particularly for shipping

The impact of sanctions on export flows of Russian energy resources is not dramatic. So far, they have caused some logistic problems amid the sabotage of Russian cargo in some neighboring countries. Nevertheless, it is necessary to build new storage facilities, order new ships, find friendly carriers and expand the Eastern Operating Domain capacity.

Over the recent couple of years, the supply chains have suffered a shock caused by the pandemic and the current geopolitical situation brings new challenges into the world’s trade, 90% of which is carried by sea. The weight of global shipping companies will not change amid new circumstances and their stock value is expected to grow, according to analysts. In view of the market complications, experts do not expect new domestic players in the Russian market but forecast the increase of the Asian partners’ share.

Amid the attempts of the EU and western shipping companies to impose a trade blockade on Russia, domestic logistics makes a great turn: the foreign trade is urgently turning eastwards. Is there a sufficient number of containers in Russia, can they be produced locally and what can be done with those of ‘unfriendly’ lines?

As IAA PortNews is informed, the programme on construction of fishing and crab catching ships by local yards (so called keel quota programme) can be revised due to sanctions imposed on Russia. Import equipment including propulsion units, diesels and fishing devices account for an essential part in shipbuilding projects. USC confirms the work with customers on possible redesigning of ships so that they could be fitted with Russian equipment. Experts believe that the challenges of the programme’s first phase rule out the second one