Ust-Luga Cup 2014 starts on June 1, 2014, in Stockholm and finishes on June 11 in Saint-Petersburg. The list of participants has been expanded this year with some new teams including the crew of the design institute Morstroytechnology. The coming Regatta was the subject of the interview with Mikhail Nikolayevsky, Director General of Morstroytechnology LLC.

Russia has embarked on actual offshore activities in the Arctic but apart from the extreme weather the projects face logistic and transport challenges.

Oil transshipment via Neva Pipeline Company’s terminal in Ust-Luga (BPS-2) is to decline this year while shipments from Ust-Luga Oil terminal are expected to increase. In this context, the conversion of the oil pipeline into the oil product pipeline is the subject of more speculations today.

Oleg Timofeev, Deputy Director General of Krylov State Research Center and Chairman of Science and Engineering Board at Russian Maritime Register of Shipping, tells IAA PortNews about the development of new shipbuilding technologies, challenges and prospects of the industry as well as about LNG shipping.

Europe is getting ready to toughening of the environmental standards in the Baltic Sea. Shipping companies switching to liquefied natural gas are provided with state support, infrastructure for LNG bunkering is being developed in ports. Norway is ahead of other countries in this sector. Representatives of the Russian Association of Marine and River Bunker Suppliers could see that themselves when visiting the country.

Amid weak profitability and insufficient financing of railway infrastructure, some coal business players question the prospects of the Far East ports development.

Next year the world's largest shipping artery will be able to receive ships of a new type. Deputy Administrator of Panama Canal Authority Manuel Benitez has told in an interview with the IAA PortNews correspondent about the Canal expansion plans. Russian ambassador in the Republic of Panama Alexey Ermakov shared his thoughts on the situation in the maritime industry of Panama, as well as about participation of Russian companies in the sector.

The joining of the Crimea with the Russian Federation entails the necessity to redivide the Sea of Azov. At the request of IAA PortNews, the situation has been analyzed by the international law experts.

Donrechflot OJSC, one of the largest shipping companies in the southern region of Russia, is nearing the completion of its river fleet repairs and plans to commence navigation in the third decade of March. Director General of Donrechflot Vasily Filippovich tells Water Transport (Media Group PortNews) about prospects and challenges of the company’s current operations.

Global container shipping is to see “price wars” amid market consolidation by larger players while Russia suffers from dumping despite the country’s high potential for cargo containerization.