Professionalism, reliability and accuracy: POT’s 25th anniversary
Petersburg Oil Terminal, one of the best-known stevedoring companies in the city, celebrates its 25th anniversary. Today, it is among the most advanced and environmentally friendly terminals of the port.
Oil handling district of the port of Saint-Petersburg is known as Petersburg Oil Terminal from June 1995. The programme of multistage construction and launching of new facilities with simultaneous production activities has proved its viability. By today, the terminal has seen a considerable expansion of its tank farm, construction of new berths, rail loading racks and other port infrastructure facilities.
The terminal expansion programme launched in 1998 is still underway. In 2000, the company put into operation facilities with multiple water treatment system. Apart from servicing the terminal, the facilities accept oily waters from other companies operating in the Gulf of Finland. POT strivings towards environment protection have been appreciated by the city: In 2003, the POT was acknowledged as the second best company in Saint-Petersburg in terms of the environment protection level.
With the shipping industry evolving, it became necessary to accept larger vessels. In 2004, POT put into operation berths for sea-going tankers, POT-3 and POT-4. The let accommodate ships with displacement of up to 100,000 tonnes. Besides, two railway racks for 36 tank cars each were put into operation.
In 2005, the terminal handled the record high amount of oil products – 10.8 million tonnes per year. POT was also certified to confirm compliance of its quality management system to ISO 9001:2000.
In 2006, started making and exchanging the shipment documents electronically. The so-called ETRAN (Electronic Transport Waybill) System was introduced. The project was successfully completed in 2008, when the electronic data exchange between ETRAN and the automated control system of the Terminal became augmented by the use of the digital signature.
In 2007, POT welcomed the first super-ships: 98,000 DWT tanker Glenbulk A (248 meters long, 41.6 meters wide) and 108,000 DWT tanker МТ Bonita (246.6 meters long, 42.03 meters wide).
Receiving super-ships with high deadweight became possible after channel dredging and construction of two new berths.
Two new 40,000-tonne tanks with a protection wall were put into operation the same year. Those are the largest tanks in the North-West Region built with the application of ergonomic double-wall technology.
Next year, POT was acknowledge as the best stevedoring company among the members of ASOP (Association of Sea Commercial Ports). POT had maintained that high status during the next two years.
In 2009, POT was declared "The Best Terminal for Dark Oil Products" at the II International Oil Terminal Competition.
It was the time when POT reached the new level of technical excellence having handled 12 million tonnes of oil products over a year.
Reconstruction of the boiler house and heat transfer units allowed POT to switch from thermal oil to steam warm-up process when unloading dark oil products.
In 2012, the terminal completed construction of its 3rd 40,000-tonne tank.
In 2017, POT commenced export shipments of aviation kerosene.
16,600 DWT tanker Sten Idun loaded with 15,000 tonnes of aviation kerosene TS-1, produced at the Kirishi Oil Refinery left the POT-3 berth. It was the first shipment of this type of fuel from the terminal. The cargo was bound for companies in the North-Western Europe. Nex year, the terminal started shipping diesel fuel to the domestic market by trucks.
The following years saw a special focus of the terminal on environmental safety: the company created its own its emergency response team an completed installation of a unique complex of floating booms, Rubezh 1-4, intended for protection of the port berths.
In December 2019, the company put into operation its system for accelerated discharge of high-viscosity fuel oil involving steam-jacketed rail tank cars.
Plans and prospects
In his interview with IAA PortNews, Chairman of POT BoD Mikhail Skigin said that it had been a high time to undertake changes at POT. Therefore, the company management developed a large-scale investment programme which is to be completed in the nearest time.
“Petersburg Oil Terminal can be virtually divided into the older and the newer parts. Some of the terminal facilities have been upgraded or built recently. They are fully automated and outfitted with state-of-the-art equipment. Now, under the new investment programme, we are to upgrade the obsolete facilities. Complete automation and remote control of all technological processes will let POT handle a new range of oil products”, said Mikhail Skigin.
Investments into the large-scale reconstruction project of POT are estimated at over RUB 7 billion.
“Construction of the new 40,000-cbm tank and modernization of other tanks of similar capacity will let embark on the next, even more ambitious phase of POT reconstruction. Those works will last till 2024 with total investments estimated at more than RUB 7 billion. In the result, the old part of the terminal will accommodate a modern handling facility providing for technologically advanced dealing with a wide range of oil products”, said Chairman of POT BoD.
Taking into consideration the history of the terminal, its consistent development and acknowledgment from the part of industry community and experts, there is no doubt of the further success. It is just time to congratulate all the company employees and shareholders on the terminal’s 25th anniversary and wish them further successful work for the benefit of the city and the country!
PortNews
