Tallinn-style transshipment
Recent economic and political events impose new terms for operation of port complexes in the Baltic states. The ports have to look for new alternatives to improve attractiveness of their terminals. In particular, a number of the Baltic ports underwent a complete restructuring process in the mid 1990s in order to fit effectively into the competitive environment. As it was noted at the international conference “Transit Role of the Baltics in Oil Trading” held in Riga, most ports of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania do their best to make investments into infrastructure and technologies more attractive. For example, Estonia’s largest port – Tallinn – underwent a conversion from a service port into a port of landlord type. Today the port of Tallinn is a lessor being not engaged in cargo handling.
Transport corridor
According to the data available at the conference, some 60% of total throughput of the port of Tallinn fall on liquid bulk cargo, mainly oil products. The Baltics have always been one of the most significant corridors linking the world’s largest economic regions. As of May of the current year, Russian transit of oil products accounted for some 25 million tonnes of oil products, which made about a quarter of Russia’s total export of oil products.
However, throughput of Tallinn has been recently decreasing, which was caused, among other reasons, by limited transportation of cargo by Russian Railways via Estonia. According to the port’s statistics, in the ten-month period of 2007, the turnover fell by 8.1% to 31.3 million tonnes. The decrease was caused by lower transshipment of oil and transit cargo.
Besides Russia, the port’s target markets are in the USA, Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Great Britain. The port’s major shippers of oil products are the refineries of Kirishi, Yaroslavl and Novopolotsk. At the same time, the conference proved, trade flows between the countries of the region increase from year to year.
The port of Tallinn consists of five harbors: Muuga, Old City, Paljassaare, Paldiski South and Saarema. All harbors are navigable all the year round and easily approachable with depths of up to 18 meters enabling them to receive all vessels able to pass the Danish Straits.
The port’s main cargo – crude and products – may be handled by three harbors of the port. The majority of transit-service oil terminals are in Muuga Harbor. Total capacity of their tank farm is some 1.1 million cubic meters. The is one oil cargo terminal in Paldiski South Harbor (259,900
cubic meters) and on in Paljassaare Harbor (47,370 cubic meters).
Oil terminals
Pakterminal is an Estonian-Dutch joint venture with the core activity of oil and oil products loading and storage services. By today Pakterminal has constructed a liquid products storage terminals consisting of 33 tanks with the total capacity of 305 000 m³. Wagon loading platforms with 68 places for dark and 34 places for light oil products are used for the loading of oil products. The length of terminal railway branches is 9 km and three locomotives perform maneuvering work there. Three quays by the largest of which vessels over 150,000 DWT can moor are at use. The speed of loading oil and oil products to vessels is up to 5,500 cubic meters per hour. Over 600 railway tanks per day can be unloaded on terminal wagon loading platforms.
Eurodek renders oil product marine and rail transportation, product transshipment and storage services. Eurodek terminal, located in Muuga Harbour, include 27 tanks with the total capacity of 305,000 m³. Transhipping of oil products is performed on 4 wagon loading platforms. Five quays by the largest of which vessels with 300,000 DWT (depending on technical parameters) can moor are at use and the loading speed of vessels amounts to 7,000 m³ per hour. Up to 700 railway tanks per day can be discharged on terminal wagon loading platforms.
The transit terminal of AS E.O.S. (AS Estonian Oil Service) specializes in re-pouring of Russian and Byelorussian fuel oil. The terminal is located in the proximity of Muuga Harbour and is connected with the harbour via electrically insulated isolated pipelines. Through a pipeline from E.O.S. terminal fuel oil is pumped to quays in Muuga Harbour, where vessels with the carrying capacity exceeding 100 000 tons can be received and loaded.
AS Alexela Terminal is the only oil products terminal in Paldiski. Alexela’s core activity includes the organization of the transit of light oil products and oil chemicals. The terminal tank park comprises 259,900 m³. 3 loading platforms are used for the loading of oil products: oil products loading platform with 68 places, chemicals loading platform with 12 places and LPG loading platform with 5 places. Two quays, where tankers of up to 65,000 DWT are serviced, are at use.