On 7 September 2017, MSCC Bronka (Multipurpose Sea Cargo Complex Bronka, Big Port St. Petersburg) welcomed the dry cargo carrier of СOSCO, global leader in the sector dry bulk and general cargo transportation, which made a transit voyage along the Northern Sea Route, for the first time in the history of China-Russia relations. IAA PortNews correspondent says the ship delivered equipment for construction of the subway and renovation of Russia’s fertilizer producing facilities.
China’s СOSCO SHIPPING SPECIALIZED CARRIERS Co., Ltd. made the transit voyage along the NSR with the call at Russia’s port in pursuance of the decision made by the head of Russia and China during their meeting in Beijing in May 2017.
The LIAN HUA SONG (length - 180 m, width - 27 m, draft – 7.9 m; deadweight - 27,500 t) left the port of Lianyungang on August 1 and sailed along the Russian coast by the Northern Sea Route. Having sailed round the Northern Europe the ship passed by the Baltic Sea to MSCC Bronka, new deepwater terminal of the port of St. Petersburg.
Aleksandr Poshivai, deputy head of Rosmorrechflot, who attended the ceremony, thanked the management of port Bronka for a great work.
“COSCO is among the global shipping leaders and it is an honour for us to welcome this company’s ship in Russia”, he said.
Aleksandr Poshivai also said that cooperation of the two leaders, COSCO and Bronka, will be successful.
Tu Deming, Director General of СOSCO SHIPPING Lines (Russia), emphasized that СOSCO pays special attention to NSR development.
“We hope to use the Northern Sea Route in the future since it allows for reduction of delivery time and transportation costs,” he said.
According to Tu Deming, СOSCO started using the Northern Sea Route from 2013. He thanked the management of port Bronka for a high level of the call organisation having marked high technological infrastructure of the port and professionalism of its employees.
“The number of vessels on this route is growing from year to year. The first voyage of СOSCO’s ship from China to Russia by the Northern Sea Route with a call at Russia’s port – Big Port St. Petersburg – is a significant contribution to the development of China-Russia relations in keeping with comprehensive partnership and strategic cooperation. We strongly support the decision of Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping made at ‘One Belt One Road’ forum to include the NSR into a unified transport network of Eurasia. We are sure, that will considerably boost trade turnover between our countries”, he said.
Tu Deming also expressed his confidence in further cooperation between the companies.
Safety of this voyage, its icebreaking and navigational support was in charge of the Russian part - Federal Marine and River Transport Agency and subordinate organizations of FSUE Atomflot.
“For the first time in the history of our countries’ commercial relations, a ship of Chinese container operator loaded with cargo for domestic industry called at Russian port. It is the first experience of a commercial voyage from China to Saint-Petersburg by the Northern Sea Route, - said Aleksey Shukletsov, Executive Director of Fenix LLC (Bronka operator). – And we are proud to take part in this significant project demonstrating that the shortest trade route linking Asia and Europe is not a less valuable resource than oil or gas. Our long-term goal is to become a key port for supplies to Russia”.
China COSCO Shipping is a global leader in the sector of dry bulk and general cargo, it is among the world’s 4 largest container operators. Every year, it carries some 180 mln t of cargo. The fleet of China COSCO Shipping numbers more than 1,250 vessels with total deadweight of 85.32 mln t, holding the first position in the world.
Northern Sea Route (NSR) is the shortest route between the European part of Russia and the Far East. It is legislatively acknowledged to be a “historically formed national transport communication of Russia in the Arctic”. NSR lanes cross the seas of the Arctic Ocean (Barents, Kara, Laptev, East Siberian, Chukotka seas) and part of the Pacific Ocean (Bering Sea).
MSCC Bronka (Multipurpose Sea Cargo Complex Bronka) is a new deepwater terminal at the port of Saint-Petersburg. Its construction was completed in 2015. The depth of the access canal and water area is 14.4 m. The capacity of Bronka’s Phase 1 is 1.45 million TEUs and 260,000 units of Ro-Ro cargoes. In the future the MSCC Bronka expansion will help increase the facility's container throughput to 1.9 million TEUs. Private investor of MSCC Bronka is Fenix LLC.
IAA PortNews offers a photo release of MSCC Bronka welcoming СOSCO’s LIAN HUA SONG >>>>.