The pandemic has severely affected the global seaborne shipping market and has ‘driven crazy’ the freight rates: contrasted with zero or even negative rates in the segment of oil tankers, container ships’ freight rates hit records and break the traditional logistics schemes while the cost of dry bulk cargo transportation reaches its decade high.

Despite the general fall of volumes exported via the neighboring non-CIS Baltic ports in the first half of 2021, exports of mineral fertilizers, grain and metal via the foreign terminal continue growing

The surge of container freight rates from the beginning of 2021 has lead to a decrease of container turnover at Big Port St. Petersburg amid its growth in other container ports of Russia. Are these declining years of Big Port St. Petersburg?

The Northern Sea Route development foresees the construction of special transport ships of arctic class including dry bulk and container carriers. Among promising projects Rosatom considers the development of coal exports and establishment of container transit lines on the northern route.

Coronavirus related restrictions against foreign cruise and ferry passengers have led to a 90-pct loss of related ports’ income and the industry finds it unfair as the air checkpoints enjoy some exemptions.

In 2021, FSUE Rosmorport’s Azov Basin Branch will begin development of documentation on maintenance dredging on the shipping section of the Don River from 3121st km to km 3169th km. This dredging project is expected to become an important phase in the development of the ports of Azov and Rostov-on-Don.

Russia is still dependent on a number of cargoes from foreign ports of the Baltic States and Finland. At the same time, Primorsk has a convenient harbor featuring original depths that enable the port to receive large-tonnage vessels. In an interview with PortNews, Andrey Sizov, General Director of the company, told about the Primorsky UPK project.

The coming decade will be disturbing for the global bunker market entering a period of transition to the new realities of environmental protection. The related issues of the bunker market were discussed at the 14th All-Russian Forum “Current State and Prospects of Development of the Russian Bunkering Services Market”.

Inland water transport development is not likely to be distinguished as a separate national project while year round navigation along the southern horseshoe can be considered to be unreasonable after launching of the Bagayevsky hydrosystem. Meanwhile, IWW cargo traffic over the first months of the year fell amid continued competition with the railway.

CNIIMF has conducted a comprehensive technical and economic analysis under the project on arranging a transarctic container line. The priority option recommended by CNIIMF is a 6,000 TEU container ship of Arc8 ice class with steerable propellers powered by LNG as the main fuel.