Navigator LLC river fleet ships 864,000 tons of Rosneft and TNK-BP export oil products to Kerch and Caucasus ports Apr-Sep, 2009
Export freight volume of oil products of Navigator tanker shipping company to off-harbour transhipment complexes of the Caucasus port (Russia) and the Kerch port (the Ukraine) amounted to 864 thousand tons beginning 2009 navigation period against 820 thousand tons of the corresponding period of the previous year, as PortNews IAA learnt from Vyacheslav Igonin , General director of Navigator company.
The shipping company is anticipated to ship over 1 million tons of fuel oil and gas oil produced at refineries of such petroleum companies as Rosneft and TNK-BP by the end of navigation period (summer navigation in southerly direction is closed mid-late November).
As per 2008 navigation results, Navigator provided shipment of 1.1 million tons of export oil products within Russian inland waterways (IWW).
We were prepared for greater volumes of shipments this year, but the navigation is not efficient enough because of extremely low water-level of the Don. As per III quarter results we haven’t managed to ship about 100,000 tons of the planned volumes, pointed out Igonin.
In 2009 permissible draft in the Don was under 320 cm which allows load a tanker with no more than 4,000 tons of oil products (river tanker capacity is about 5,000 tons). The permissible draft was up to 350 cm previous year which allowed the tanker ship 4,600 tons of oil products.
Both in 2009 and 2008 Navigator LLC had 17 fleet units in operation, including 11 liquid-cargo vessels of river-sea class and 6 river tankers. Points of oil products shipping are located in Saratov, Oktyabrsk, Azov and Taganrog.