Coal is the most promising cargo for the further expansion of Russia's port facilities. There are a lot of coal terminals in Russia and only four dedicated coal ports. And conventional ports are handling coal without using modern 'green' technologies. However, the situation may change soon due to new legislative initiatives that will force stevedores operating the conventional terminals to purchase appropriate equipment and systems or to abandon the market.

According to Rosmorrechflot, annual cargo throughput of the North-Western Russian ports by 2020 may grow by 60 million tonnes. Of the volume, about 40 million tonnes is expected to be generated in the segment of dry bulk cargo. Additional volumes of freight will be received thanks to shifting of imports flows to Russian ports from the neighboring countries through the construction of new terminals.

Although transshipment of Russian foreign trade cargo via the ports of the Baltic states and Ukraine decreased in the first half of 2017 by 6.84%, coal transshipment via foreign ports surged, which even resulted in some growth of Russian cargo handled by neighboring states, in absolute terms.

On 21-23 June 2017, MariNet working group of the National Technology Initiative (NTI) held a series of activities in Kaliningrad: regional conference, meeting of the sub-group on human capital development and engineering competition “Solar Regatta”. Continuous education – from school to maritime specialization – was in the focus of the activities. Expansion of the MariNet footprint is among the key factors of MariNet Working Group’s success, said Aleksandr Pinsky, deputy head of the Group.

On the wave of state efforts to develop fishery and to stimulate shipbuilding, both industries are in active search for mutually acceptable compromises. Aleksandr Duplyakov, President of the Far East Crab Catchers Association, answers the questions of IAA PortNews.

The IMO Ballast Water Management Convention (BWMC 2004) will enter into force on 8 September 2017. Vladimir Shurpyak, Senior Principal Surveyor of the RS Machinery Department, tells IAA PortNews about its meaning for ship owners in actual practice.

Amid the environmental row related to coal transshipment via the Far Eastern ports of Russia and drafting of laws that offer a radical solution with a ban on open storage/transshipment of coal, Russian Railways has unintentionally “pointed” to a more workable solution associated with the capacity limitations.

The Port of Kerch which handles some 70% of all goods bound for Crimea embarks on RUB 1.2 bln reconstruction in 2017. That will let start handling containers, 110,000 TEUs per month. The port is set to become a gateway in the nearest 5–10 years and to service freight flows on the Caspian Sea – Volga-Don Canal and Kerch – Black Sea – Istanbul routes, etc.

The efforts on restoring military arts division at Admiral Makarov State University of Maritime and Inland Shipping undertaken by the interested parties for many years have finally worked out. Sergey Baryshnikov, Rector of the University, tells IAA PortNews about the plans and concerns of the University.

In the run up to launching Phase 3 of the dedicated coal terminal of Vostochny Port JSC, its environmental aspect was inspected by representatives of regional and federal media. When speking at the media conference, Anatoly Lazarev, Managing Director of Vostochny Port JSC, told about specific features of the terminal which has no rivals in the Far East of Russia and explained why the company had invested about RUB 1 bln over four years.