Fulfillment of Russia’s export potential starts from Far East

New coal terminal intended for operation with producers and traders obtains outlines at port Vostochny in Primorsk Territory. 

Vostochny Port OJSC bearing the status of Russia’s largest stevedore among coal operators is building the third phase of a Specialized Coal Terminal which is to increase the company’s throughput to 32.5 mln t per year.

The assets of the stevedoring company comprise two handling facilities today. Universal Handling Terminal specializes in clamshell coal handling. Its annual capacity is 3 mln t of coal. Specialized Coal Terminal is equipped with the conveyer equipment system and railcar unloading station. Its automation level is up to 99% with annual capacity of 14.2 mln t. 

According to the order of RF President Vladimir Putin, the shareholders decided to give a status of “public” sea terminal to the third phase of Vostochny Port’s Coal terminal. It is intended for operation with large, medium and small size shippers.

The third phase will be a continuation of the Coal Terminal. The project implies the construction of railway infrastructure, additional berth with two ship loaders, conveyer equipment system, two rotor-type tandem wagon dumpers, wagon defrosters as well as creation of four additional storage facilities equipped with 4 reclaimers and 2 stackers. 

The construction site of the third phase was initially surrounded with the seashore (in the east), highway (in the west) and existing Coal Terminal (in the south). The reserve of storage space is always required to ensure success of stevedoring business. Therefore, the management company of Vostochny Port decided to reclaim more territory for additional storage facilities. Under the project, the capacity of 4 storage facilities will be 800,000 t of coal, which is almost one forth more as compared with the existing coal complex of the company.

Design supervision of the construction is being carried out by DNIIMF OJSC.

With the reclaimed territory, the shore area will be extended for more than 400 meters. Apart from the storage facilities, two berths will be built there. 

The first one – Berth No 51А – will be 93 meters long. During the construction period, it will accept technological equipment of the third phase. The depth at the berth will be 11.5 m, which is sufficient for vessels currently handled at the Universal Handling Terminal of Vostochny Port.

The second berth – No 51 – will be 300 meters long and 16.5 meters deep at the berth wall to accept large capacity vessels with deadweight of up to 150,000.

The construction of berth No 51А was commenced in October 2013 by Construction Alliance CJSC. According to the agreement, the facility will be delivered in summer 2014.
 
The construction of the third phase commenced in October 2012. The project is to be implemented within 48 months. Its estimated value is almost RUB 10 bln. 

According to the forecasts of Managing Port Company LLC coordinating the operation of the largest port operator, the port capacity is to reach 24.5 mln t of coal by 2017 and 28.5 mln t by 2019. With Phase III fully operational in 2020, Vostochny Port OJSC will be able to handle up to 32.5 mln t.

«Considerable growth of Vostochny Port OJSC will be driven not only by Phase III of the coal complex, says Managing Director of Vostochny Port OJSC Anatoly Lazarev. – In 2010 we started implementing the programme in improvement of operation technology and renovation and modernization of equipment. This programme is to be implemented within 5 years. One of the latest acquisitions is the ship loader».

New MITSUI MIIKE equipment replaced one of the four loaders installed at the pier of the Coal Complex of Vostochny Port OJSC. New loader was put into operation in October 2013.

The programme on modernization and implementation of Phase III consists of several stages complying with the Strategy for the development of seaport infrastructure of the Russian Federation till 2030. One of the purposes of the strategy is to enhance the capacity of seaports.

Coal supplies in the Far East are under intense development today. The ports of Russian Far East account for some 40% of all coal exports of the country.

Sophia Vinarova