The works are underway in Makhachkala, Nakhodka, Vladivostok, Murmansk, etc.
The capacity of Russia’s fish handling terminals is to be increased considerably over several years, Victor Chebotayev, Chief Engineer at FSUE Natsrybresurs, said at the 6th Hydraulic Engineering and Dredging Congress organized by IAA PortNews. Underway is the reconstruction of the southern jetty of the fish terminal in Makhachkala; creation of a fish processing cluster in the port of Nakhodka where Phase 2 foresees the construction of new fish processing facilities and storage facilities for up to 2 thousand TEU including refrigerating ones (the project completion is scheduled for 2026).
New refrigerating facilities are being built in Vladivostok (the project completion is scheduled for the end of 2023).
There is also a plan for reconstruction of terminals in the ports of Korsakov, Murmansk and Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky in order to create a line for transportation of fish products from the Far East to the central part of the country by the Northern Sea Route (about 1 million tonnes per year).
292 meters of berths have been reconstructed in the Mokhovaya Bay (the Kamchatka Territory). Phase 2 of the reconstruction project is to be completed in mid-2025. A multipurpose terminal is to be created there. Apart from fish it is to handle containers.
On the Sakhalin, Phase I of the berths reconstruction project is to be conducted in 2024-26.
The reconstruction project in Murmansk foresees the creation of a deep-water berths and port infrastructure with a container yard for 2,300 FEU, a refrigerating facility for 10 thousand tonnes, and a plant for processing of bioresources.
Among the related challenges Victor Chebotayev mentioned excessively long and costly environmental assessment even for small-scale dredging projects.
It should be emphasized that handling of ships with a draft of 9 meters is possible at less than 20% of Natsrybresurs’ water front (4.2 km). At the same time, fish terminals can handle up to 6 million tonnes per year. The key limiting factor is the shortage of refrigerating facilities.