Long way to the port

One of the major factors hindering development of Saint Petersburg port is insufficient traffic capacity of road approaches to the port. In the busiest periods the vehicles may wait for 3-5 days before they are allowed to enter the territory. The losses caused by enforced idleness are being counted by all the parties including forwarders, stevedores and cargo owners.

Request stop

Cargo districts of the port as well as the ground of a stevedoring company Petrolesport OJSC operating within the city limits are located mainly at the territory of southern planning area of Saint Petersburg being one of the busiest parts of traffic flow. The embankments of Obvodny canal and Ekateringofka river, as well as adjacent industrial streets, are considered to be problem approaches to Petrolesport. Daily congestion consists of 40-100 vehicles, mostly loaded containers. Everyday operation of the port involves 43 thou vehicles including 13 thou trucks (32%), mostly heavy trucks. Transport flows moving in the direction of the port cause considerable load of the city’s traffic system. It results in congestion, which complicates traffic situation and increases time needed for leading of trucks to federal roads.

However, today’s situation has improved according to Alexander Svetlichny, Director of Petrolesport container terminal. In spring and in summer of the current year the line of the vehicles used to occupy Obvodny canal up to Moskovsky prospect. As Svetlichny told to the reporter of PortNews IAA, the peak of the situation today is the line stretching as far as the Krasny Treugolnic plant.

The routes excluding the port

Demurrage results in losses of both cargo owners and those in charge of cargo delivery. Andrei Saveljev, Director General of forwarding company Greenway – Customs Broker, has told to the reporter of PortNews IAA, that one-day demurrage of one container truck results in loss of $150. For refrigerator containers it is up to EUR 200 per day. In most cases such costs are incurred by the forwarder since the cargo is to be delivered within terms specified by the contract. “Any delay is our responsibility,” Saveljev says.

The loss of stevedoring companies is caused by lower throughput. According to Alexander Svetlichny, there is almost a direct dependence between the terminal’s cargo turnover and the time, which containers spend in the port. “The less time containers spend at the berth the more efficient operation of handling equipment is”, Svetlichny says. Besides it influences turnaround of facilities, decreases number of tiers at storage area. Currently, average storage period of import containers in the port of Saint Petersburg is about 10-12 days. If we manage to cut it to three days we can double the turnover, Svetlichny says.

“I’am sure, - Svetlichny says to PortNews IAA – that we may attract cargo, which is currently sent to Russia via Finland and Baltic ports, provided that Russian container terminals at the Baltic speed up container handling. The route via the port of Saint Petersburg is the best way from logistics point of view.”

Who is to solve the problem

According to the estimates of Svetlana Vorontsova, deputy to the Director General of Scientific research and design institute of territorial development and transport infrastructure, total investments needed for development and improvement of approaches to cargo districts I – IV of the port and to Petrolesport, are about RUR 11 560 million. Investment of RUR 10 720 million is needed before 2010.

Next five years will see increase of capacity of road approaches to the Big Port of Saint Petersburg through introduction of turnpike – western high-speed diameter (ZSD).

Implementation of this project is to improve efficiency of Saint Petersburg transport system as well as to link the port and transport-and-logistics complexes of the city with the network of federal highways.

Stevedoring companies try to improve traffic situation themselves. The company’s management promises that traffic jams at the approaches to the port will be decreased next year. According to Alexander Kolosnitsin, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Petrolesport, the company has acquired the territory of adjacent “dead” companies in order to improve the situation with the territory for vehicles. “De jure it is the territory of Petrolesport, Kolosnitsin says, - de facto it will be used as parking for vehicles entering Petrolesport”. This territory is to unload Kirovsky district. Today the vehicles staying along railway may be placed at specially arranged grounds, Kolosnitsin says. “To a certain extent we undertake measures unprofitable for ourselves. We could place metal or timber here instead of arrangement of parking at our own expense.”

Alexander Svetlichny has also told about activities aimed at prevention of congestion. “Today we develop a special program for serving the queue. Besides, we plan that special mobile group will start operation at the end of this month. This group will regulate the queue.” Actually it is the competence of state traffic inspectorate (STI), but stevedores consider its work to be ineffective since STI does not check the documents of forwarders, which have no certification. Mobile group of Petrolesport is ready to undertake these functions.