Murmansk port

Port of Murmansk is one of the greatest ice-free ports in Russia. The necessity of such port construction was realized during the World War I, when Saint-Petersburg port and all the

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Black Sea ports were blocked by enemies, and Archangel port froze. Then the only way was the urgent building of the new port on the North of Russia.

At the end of June - beginning of July 1915, the first scheduled works were conducted on the territory of the future port, and on September, 1st of 1915, the first steamer Drott with a cargo from New York moored to a temporary dock. Thus, September 1 can be regarded as the birthday of the port of Murmansk (Murmansk Commercial Port, 2010).

The warm Gulf Stream makes the climate soft in this part of the Kola Peninsula. The Gulf does not freeze, even in severe winters, which allows year-round navigation without ice posting.

The width of the Kola Bay and the depth of the channel let almost any craft without restrictions on length or sediment to come in and get in the anchorage.

The Murmansk port consists of three ports: commercial port, fish port and passenger port.

Currently, the most developed port is Murmansk Commercial Port. It gets its rapid progress due to the increasing export of carbon and other mineral resources.

The main features of Murmansk Commercial Port are (Murmansk Commercial Port, 2010):

1. Location is 68 degrees 58 minutes N; 33 degrees 05 minutes of E.

2. The navigation in the Port is open 24 hours and all year round.

3. The tide changes occur approximately every 6 hours. The difference of the water level is 3,66 m.

4. The gulf is ice-free but in severe winters it is iced for a short time; but normally the ice is drifting.

5. The depths on the roads are 20-60 m.

6. The speed of the tide can be 2,5 knots.

7. Density of water in the bay is changeable within the limits 1,000-1,025 ‰ subject to tides.

8. Murmansk Commercial Seaport is the only port in the northwest of Russia handling the vessels with the deadweight up to 130 000 t.

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9. On the territory of Murmansk commercial seaport operate two stevedoring companies: Open Joint Stock Company «Murmansk Commercial Seaport» and Closed Joint Stock Company «Agrosphere».

10. OJSC ―Murmansk Commercial Seaport‖ is divided into 3 districts. Handling and storage of the general cargoes, bulk cargoes and cargoes in containers are possible on the 1st and the 2nd cargo districts. The storage and loading of vessels with apatite concentrate in bulk by conveyor is provided by the 3rd cargo district.

11. JSC ―Agrosphere‖ is the specialized complex for storage and loading of vessels with mineral fertilizers in bulk by conveyor.

12. OJSC ―Murmansk Commercial Seaport‖ and JSC ―Agrosphere‖ are Terminals.

According to the program of development of Murmansk port, it is planned to provide implementation of complex investment projects in the value of 157 billion rubles (it is about $ 6 billion), of which 60.9 billion rubles will be allocated from the federal budget for railway projects, funds RZD and Investment Fund; the remaining projects, such as construction of oil terminals capacity of 35 million tonnes (46 billion rubles), construction of Coal Terminal (14.4 billion rubles) and a container terminal (10.9 billion rubles), must be financed by private investors (Murmansk port will be ready for the load, 2007).

According to A. Davudenko (Federal Agency of Marine and River Transport CEO), in accordance with the Federal target program ―Development of the Russian transport system for the period 2010-2015‖, it is planned to build a new port and railway infrastructure in the port of Murmansk and the western part of the Kola Bay (A. Davudenko: Port of Murmansk - the gateway to the offshore treasures of Russia, 2009). In particular, the project development of the Murmansk transport hub provides for:

1. the establishment of marine container terminal (cargo handling up to 1 million TEU per year),

2. the construction of coal transshipment complex on the West coast of the Kola Bay near the Lavna river (capacity of 18 million tons per year),

3. the development of a coal terminal on the eastern shore of the Kola Bay (capacity up to 12 million tons per year),

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4. the building of oil terminal on the West coast of the Kola Gulf (35 million tons a year),

5. the construction of a new railway branch (27 km) along the western shore of the bay,

6. the building of dedicated logistics center.

Development of the Murmansk transport hub and the planned increase in turnover of existing terminals of the Murmansk port requires the opening of additional crossing points across the sea border. Russian government considers that it is appropriate to open a checkpoint in the village Liinakhamari (Murmansk region) (A. Davudenko: Port of Murmansk - the gateway to the offshore treasures of Russia, 2009).

Implementation of port project of the Murmansk transport hub is only available on public-private partnership. Davudenko said: ―We need to make the project attractive to inward investment. Therefore, I believe we must go back to the establishment of a special economic zone in the port of Murmansk. This will enhance business and investment activities in the port, create preconditions for attracting leading innovative technologies to the region and give impetus to the development of Arctic transportation‖ (A. Davudenko: Port of Murmansk - the gateway to the offshore treasures of Russia, 2009).

The implementation of these improvements is planned to start due the period of 2010-2015.