Insufficient capacity of Russian railways is a major hurdle in the development of the country’s ports. It has long been said recently about the Far Eastern direction, but the problem is quite urgent for the Baltic Sea basin as well.

Innovative information technology is the key to success in the modern logistics market. Yuri Vorontsov, Chief Executive Officer of RTL Group, a leading company on the Russian market of vehicles deliveries, has told PortNews how the Group implements its own information system.

LLC Port Vysotsky has just started handling Panamax vessels. The first ship of deadweight of over 80,000 tons was loaded on August 21-24 at the port’s terminal and took additional loads at outer anchorage. The company has received two notifications of arrival and handling of the same class ships in September.

Rosmorport has finalized the Russian Ports Development Strategy project intended for the period until 2030. According to the document, until the indicated period the major volume of Russian cargos flow should be shifted to domestic ports now shipped largely via the neighboring countries’ ports. The project also provides for reduction of exports share in the total cargo traffic at the nation’s ports.

Russian shipping companies are now developing a new business niche in modern Russian history - small cruises to local attractions, which include shore excursions. And the society’s interest to the cruises is growing more and more. The first river cruise St. Petersburg – Orechek Fortress with a tour inside the fortress, organized by Astra Marine, is a good example.

Despite the changes in United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC) top management, and after the St. Petersburg authorities has dropped the Novo-Admiralteysky Bridge project, the Corporation still nourishes its plans to relocate the Admiralty Shipyards facilities to the Kotlin Island and to build new shipyards in the Far East. However, all of these projects will likely undergo some changes.

The boundaries of a border crossing checkpoint at the Big Port of St. Petersburg have not been established so far. The reason is the dispute between business entities operating at the port, as well as the approach of the customs authorities. The long-awaited inauguration of the crossing point for yachts in the Fort Constantine may also be postponed. Nevertheless, a meeting of the interdepartmental commission on these issues has been slated for August 15, 2012.

Coal remains a major export cargo in Russia. In accordance with the Program of development of coal industry, its production in 2030 is expected to surge by nearly a third to 430 million tons a year. The coal production will shift towards the east. Meanwhile, it is urgent for coal export through the Far Eastern ports to eliminate now the transportation infrastructure "junctions" and in the first place the railway ‘bottlenecks’.

SC Vostochny Port on July 23, 2012 handled a record 10th millionth ton of coal. This is a record figure of the stevedore company in less than seven straight months. The remarkable performance was originated by joint efforts of the company’s team and other factors, Managing Director of Vostochny Port Anatoly Lazarev and Tatiana Voitekhovich, chairman of local water transport labor union told in an interview with the PortNews correspondent.

Russia has announced its ambitious plans for development of Trans-Siberian Railway as a transit traffic artery of the country. It is assumed that the railroad development will help handle the transit traffic from Asia to Europe and back from the sea to rail transport. The market participants are doubtful on the feasibility of these plans and insist on elimination of ‘bottlenecks’ on the access roads to ports as a priority objective.