Terminal Project to Allow 10,000 TEU Ships in the Black Sea
The construction of a deepwater berth at the NUTEP terminal in the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk will allow Russia to offer regular year-round ice-free calls for vessels up to 10,000 TEU for the first time.
NUTEP, a subsidiary of DeloPorts and sister company to multimodal transport specialist Ruscon, is already the largest container terminal in the port but currently handles most deepsea cargo via transshipment at Istanbul or Piraeus.
Konstantin Kalugin, CCO of NUTEP, said, “The new deepwater quay will alter the status quo on the Black Sea and change existing supply chain networks in the region. It will reduce both shipping and terminal costs for clients and increase delivery speed by 4-12 days for cargo headed for Russia.”
The first piles have been driven for the new 341-meter quay after two years of planning and approvals, with completion scheduled for late 2018. The berth depth of 15.6 meters, compared with two berths of 12.3 meters today, will increase LOA (load line) to 320 meters from 270 meters. This will allow 8,000 – 10,000 TEU containerships to make regular calls to the Russian port for the first time.
The 26.5-hectare NUTEP terminal, already the best equipped in the region, will double in capacity to handle 700,000 TEU per annum as part of the project.
DeloPorts also owns and operates a grain terminal and a bunkering services company in Novorossiysk.
A DeloPorts spokesman said the NUTEP expansion project is an integral part of the company’s strategy to develop the stevedoring assets of the group.