Big Port reaches its expansion limit

The historical part of Big Port St. Petersburg has reached the limits of its physical expansion. The main limiting factor here is the capacity of access roads leading to the port. According to St. Petersburg Transport and Transit Policy Committee, the projected throughput volumes announced by investors do not meet even the potential capacity of the city.

Containers congestion

Some stevedoring companies operating at the historic districts of Big Port St. Petersburg have announced their ambitious development plans, primarily about container terminals. Global Port’s Petrolesport plans to boost its annual container volume by nearly threefold to 2.3 million TEUs until 2023. Box throughput of Container Terminal of Saint Petersburg (formerly Fourth Stevedoring Company, UCL Holding) is projected to jump to 1.2 mln TEUs a year from 85,000 TEUs in 2011. First Container Terminal also plans some growth figures, however the investor, National Container Company, focuses on the priority development of a new terminal in the nearby port of Ust-Luga. Third Stevedoring Company expects an increase in car imports through its yard.

Indeed, some throughput growth at the areas of the port is quite possible. But this would be possible thanks to the development of sea approach channels, which is an objective of Rosmorport, as well as the port’s connection to the Western Express Ring Road (ZSD).
Rosmorport plans to partly dismantle the artificial island of Krivaya Damba to enable accommodation of large-tonnage vessels in the waters of Vostochny and Barochny basins, dredging of canal loop for sailing at inner anchorage of Big Port St. Petersburg, construction of offshore mooring facilities. Currently, the engineering surveys and the layout of Lesnoi Mall anchorage have been completed.

As to the port access roads, the by-pass highway has been under construction, designed for transporting cargo from the port - ZSD. So far, only part of the South section of ZSD. Upon completion of this phase and construction of the Central section, the historic port areas will be connected to the highway, which will increase the capacity of access roads. However, ZSD is the toll highway and there are not free roads projected. The ZSD construction also suggests raising the 52-m-tall bridge across the sea channel. But this creates certain difficulties, for sailboats, such as "Peace" and "Sedov", which have 52 meters in height, making it impossible to visit the Neva River. The passenger port "Marine Façade" will also get access to the road ring, making it the cargo port as well.

Port in the City

However, even if these projects are successful the city will not be able to move the projected loads from the port, Chairman of the Transportation & Transit Committee Alexei Bakirey told Friday the meeting of the Maritime Board of St. Petersburg government.
Currently the near-dock railyards capacity is 35 million tons of cargo a year, while other loads are hauled by trucks. Cargo throughput at the port has stabilized at around 60 million tons a year and the construction and operation of ZSD, dredging, etc. will increase traffic volume, but not significantly.

Alexei Bakirey noted that only the construction of outer harbors outside the city boundaries might help boost stevedoring activities at the Big Port. Similar to Bronka port, the project which has been underway. According to Alexei Shukletsov COO of the project investor Phoenix Ltd., the construction of Bronka berths is scheduled for completed before this winter. Then the federal company Rosmorport is to commence dredging the berths and approach channel. Thanks to an initiative of the Ministry of Transport this project is expected to be included in the Federal Target Program (FTP) to fund the dredging.  Acting Deputy Transport Minister Viktor Olersky said the project has been in the final phase of endorsement.

Phoenix COO added that Bronka port, which has direct access to ZSD, would not create a significant burden on the Ring Road, even with the maximum cargo throughput at the port. Besides, the investor plans to move from the port 600,000 TEUs, its major export container volume, by rail.

At the same time, another project of outer harbor, in the vicinity of Limonosov (Military Harbor and Yantar), has failed to pass public hearing as the environmentalists fear the project will reduce the recreational area.
Yet it has become clear that the city and the port begin to hinder the development of each other, that further expansion of the port in the historic districts of the city is almost impossible. Moreover, the lion's share of taxes from the port operations, as previously stated the then governor Valentina Matvienko, goes to Moscow where major companies, owners of the port terminals, are headquartered. Meanwhile, St. Petersburg has to bear the infrastructure and the environmental burden.

In our opinion, the success of stevedoring activities in St. Petersburg, largely depends on the merger of the city and the Leningrad region in a single subject of the Federation and the redistribution of tax revenues from the federal government in favor of the budget of the combined entity. Then the region will be more interested in the development of stevedoring business, there will be more room for maneuver, and city residents will better understand for what it's all done. Fortunately, as well the former as newly elected president had repeatedly stated the need of budgetary relations decentralization.

Vitaly Chernov.