Russia to Deepen Novorossiysk for Larger Ships
By Aiswarya Lakshmi
Thursday, October 1, 2015
The Russian government plans to spend between $400 to $500 million to expand and deepen the harbor of the Novorossiysk seaport to handle larger vessels, reports Moscow News.
Construction, in order to make it more competitive with Ukrainian ports also on the Black Sea, is set to begin in the first quarter of next year with completion scheduled for 2020.
Russian government expects that the project will boost container volume at Novorossiysk by 10 to 15 percent annually.
The operator, NCSP Group is Europe’s third largest port operator in terms of cargo turnover, and the undisputed leader in the Russian market.
The Group operates two of the largest Russian ports – Port of Novorossiysk on the Black Sea coast, and Port of Primorsk on the Baltic Sea – as well as Port of Baltiysk in Kaliningrad region.
Like other Russian ports, Novorossiysk, the country’s second-largest container gateway, has been hurt by falling oil prices, economic sanctions and the decline of the ruble against international currencies.
The Ukrainian seaports Illichivsk and Yozhny deeper harbors and have grabbed some of Novorossiysk's cargo. The project also calls for increasing the length of the berth at Novoroslesexport, one of the port’s largest terminals, from about 919 feet to 1,655 meters so it can handle Panamax vessels.