Ferry’s gambit
New ferry line Baltijsk-Sassnits for cargo transportation between Europe and Russia is to be launched on February 21, 2016. If the customs and the weather are favourable towards the new line, the service frequency can be up to three times per week. This will let partially diffuse a problem caused by the ban imposed on transportation of Russian cargoes across Poland. Yet, it is not clear if the new line will be able to change the truck haulage logistics on a long-term basis.
Freight and passenger ferry Peterburg (BFI, RZD Holding's shipping company) will come to the loading ramp of port Baltijsk (Kaliningrad Region) on February 21. This will be a new line, different from Ust-Luga–Baltijsk–Sassnits line launched earlier and temporarily suspended.
RF Transport Ministry has entrusted FSI Rosavtotrans with coordinating the activities of control authorities and port services to ensure efficient operation of the new line. A voyage charter is to be signed with BFI. A Ro-Ro line is being created from scratch within a short period of time so all the interested parties – Transport Ministry, Association of International Automobile Carriers, customs and ship owners – have to do their best to ensure regular service and to make it profitable.
The flow of trucks is mainly formed by imports from Europe to Russia. There are two main centers that generate this flow in Europe – Northern Germany and Northern Italy. Almost 90% of cargo bound for Russia is carried from there to Moscow by the shortest possible routes. Recent months, though, have seen considerable reduction of imports. Different experts say the cargo flow has reduces almost by half.
The remaining cargo flows have traditionally been crossing the territory of Poland, which is shortest way by land. The haulage agreements between Russia and Poland expired on February 1 and a new deal was not reached. Transportation via the territory of Ukraine is not possible either due to political reasons. Now the carriers can enter Europe either by ferries via the ports of the Baltic Sea or via the ports of the Black Sea.
The most popular route in the Baltic Sea, Klaipeda (Lithuania) – Kiel (Germany), is operated by DFDS Seaways. Yet, it is more expensive than a land route across Poland by about EUR 150-300 per truck depending on fuel costs.
As Vaidas Klumbys, spokesman for DFDS Seaways (Klaipeda), told IAA PortNews, some 120 Russian trucks at the seaport of Klaipeda are currently waiting their turn to be serviced at Klaipeda – Kiel ferry route. He says the trucks will be serviced by the end of the current week. The trucks waiting in a queue have arrived early this week, explained DFDS Seaways spokesman.
According to Vaidas Klumbys, the highest load was registered on February 6-7 when the queue consisted of 300 trucks. By now, those trucks have been shipped. To facilitate shipments of trucks DFDS had to shift larger ferries from the Klaipeda – Karlshamn (Sweden) route and to increase the number of voyages from six to seven per week. Ferry capacity - about 150 trucks (16.4 m).
The Klaipeda – Karlshamn route also saw the increase of trucks. Those not willing to wait use the Klaipeda – Karlshamn route via the Southern Sweden and Denmark to Germany.
Russian ports of the Kaliningrad Region are some 190 km from Klaipeda. Their proposal is also less attractive due to border crossing (Russia-Baltic states, then again to Russia and back to the territory of the European Union). To make the new line, Balitijsk-Sassnitz, attractive for carriers, the ferry ticket should not cost more than that for DFDS ferry, up to EUR 650 one way. It is not clear so far if the new line is able to be profitable without laying the loss burden on the ship owner (Russian Railways). It is difficult to maintain three calls per week with the period of handling at the port within 4 hours. Port Sassnitz has an approach canal not available for sailing if wind speed exceeds 10 m/second. Besides, the ports of Germany are closed on Sundays while highways are closed for trucks.
Launching of an alternative route to Europe is a matter of principle for Russia. So this line is likely to enjoy extremely favourable approach.
In the Northern part of the Baltic Sea several routes are available via Saint-Petersburg. However this direction is only interesting for 10% of carriers, those whose cargo are bound for the North-West region. It is not reasonable to have cargoes bound for Moscow entering via Saint-Petersburg. In Saint-Petersburg, there is a ferry line operated by ST.PETER LINE and providing services towards Finland (twice a week) and Sweden (once a week). There is also a line linking Estonia and Saint-Petersburg. Those ferries can accommodate 65-70 trucks. They are mostly focused on passenger transportation. As Sergei Kotenev, Director General of ST.PETER LINE, told IAA PortNews, only one ferry operates at the line today and it is loaded with trucks by about 70%. “We have a vessel not deployed today and we are looking into providing it for the Balitijsk-Sassnitz line if necessary,” say Kotenev.
New port Bronka which services, among others, liner calls of Finnlines, does not see any demand for transportation of trucks. “No boom of truck transportation is expected at Bronka today,” comments Aleksei Shukletsov, Executive Director of Fenix (the investor of MSCC Bronka project). Either the state provides considerable financial support to this direction or transportation via the ports of the Baltic state will remain more profitable.
RTL (Russian Transport Lines) holding the Novaya Gavan terminal at the port of Ust-Luga (Leningrad Region) also considers several options for opening of ferry lines for Russian carriers. “We earlier had an approved project for a Germany-Ust-Luga line with a call to one of the Baltic ports, said Konstantin Skovoroda, member of RTL BoD. Its implementation was hindered by limits imposed on imports of some European goods in summer 2014. Today we are looking into a possibility to launch a ferry service from Germany to Ust-Luga or Saint-Petersburg. However, insufficient time-frame is crucial today, especially when it comes to political aspects, and, consequently, to profitability of the project in long-term outlook.
Experts interviewed by IAA PortNews mark the promising outlook of the southern routes via the ports of the Black Sea, for example from Novorossiysk to Varan (Bulgaria). The Sevastopol ferry could be deployed for this line today. Nikolai Asaul, Deputy Minister of Transport of the Russian Federation, admits that this proposal can be considered by FSI Rosavtotrans but it requires in-depth elaboration.
It should be noted that sea ferry lines will most likely serve as just a political lever for resuming negotiations on freight traffic between Poland and Russia. There is a major risk of the demand for sea routs to be maintained for a couple of month until land routes are available. Anyway, those who promptly propose the cheapest, the shortest and the safest route win in this business.
Nadezhda Malysheva, Margarita Babkova.
