Novorossiysk Commercial Sea Port Group announces that on September 21, 2013 the first ever container vessel exceeding 280 meters in length has been processed the Novorossiysk seaport.
The first ship to arrive on Maersk’s new service to Novorossiysk, the CATHERINE RCKMERS, with a length of 286 meters and a deadweight of 58,341 tonnes, became the longest ever container vessel to call at the Novorossiysk port.
By extending this deep-sea service to Novorossiysk, Maersk’s container ships on this line will now call at: Pipavav, Hazira, Nhava Sheva, Jebel Ali, Salalah, Port Said, Mersin, Izmit Korfezi, Ambarli, Novorossiysk, Izmit Korfezi, Ambarli, Mersin, Port Said, Jeddah, Jebel Ali, Pipavav.
Transit time from Nhava Sheva to Novorossiysk is 24 days, and from Novorossiysk to Nhava Sheva is 26 days. This Maersk line from India will be serviced by 7 panamax vessels (4.2-4.8 ths TEU) with lengths of up to 300 meters.
NCSP Group CEO Yuri Matvienko said: “This ship’s arrival enabled us to test our capability of handling ships of this length at our container terminal. And while there were relatively few containers this time, we hope that the weekly service will be in demand, which will lead to an overall increase in handling.”
NCSP Group is the largest port operator in Russia and the third-largest in Europe, in terms of cargo turnover. NCSP shares are traded on Russia's Moscow Exchange (ticker: NMTP) and on the London Stock Exchange in the form of GDRs (ticker: NCSP). 50.1% shares of PJSC “NCSP” belong to Novoport Holding Ltd, the beneficial owners of which are OJSC “Transneft” and Summa Group. NCSP Group cargo turnover in 2012 totalled 159 million tonnes. Consolidated revenue according to IFRS in 2012 totalled US$ 1,034 million and EBITDA was US$ 591.5 million. NCSP Group consolidates the following companies: PJSC “Novorossiysk Commercial Sea Port”, LLC “Primorsk Trade Port”, PJSC “Novorossiysk Grain Terminal”, OJSC “Novorossiysk Ship Repair Yard”, OJSC “NCSP Fleet”, OJSC “NLE”, OJSC “IPP”, CJSC “Baltic Stevedore Company”, and CJSC “SFP”.