Novoship Celebrates 50th Anniversary

On January 19-20, 2017 Novorossiysk Shipping Company (Novoship), a subsidiary of SCF Group, hosted special events dedicated to the company’s 50th anniversary.

 
The anniversary ceremony was attended by Victor Olersky, Deputy Minister of Transport of the Russian Federation, Head of the Federal Marine and River Transport Agency (Rosmorrechflot); Alexey Kondratenko, Member of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation; Evgeniy Moskvichev, Chairman of the State Duma Transport Committee; Alexey Klyavin, President of the Russian Chamber of Shipping; Yury Sukhorukov, President of the Seafarers’ Union of Russia, and Sergey Frank, President & CEO of PAO Sovcomflot.
 
Novorossiysk Shipping Company was officially established on January 20, 1967. Very soon thereafter Novoship developed to become one of the nation’s leaders in terms of fleet size and cargo volumes transported. The creation of this specialised tanker company enabled Russia to strengthen its position in global shipping, preserving and expanding the nation’s tanker fleet, whilst building a strong marine infrastructure in the Black sea basin. At the core of Novoship’s success lies a unique professional approach developed in Novorossiysk. The scope of Novoship’s operations and its significance made Novorossiysk the true “Tanker Capital” of Russia.
 
In 2007 Vladimir Putin, President of Russia, signed a decree to consolidate the state energy transportation assets, which saw Novoship become a part of newly established SCF Group. Nevertheless, Novoship remained a separate legal entity that continued to pay its taxes locally, to the Krasnodar regional budget. Today, Novoship is one of the key assets within SCF Group. SCF Management Services (Novorossiysk) established at its headquarters is responsible for the technical management of a major part of SCF Group’s conventional tanker fleet. It performs this role in full accordance with the strict requirements imposed by the world’s largest charterers, including the oil majors.
 
From the moment of its establishment, Novoship has played a key role in the life of the city and the region it which it is based. The growth of the company provided a powerful impetus for the development of Novorossiysk, with new residential estates, hotels, kindergartens, and health care facilities built. It has also seen Novorossiysk’s higher engineering maritime college established, now renamed Admiral Ushakov Maritime University. The company is still a trusted employer that provides work opportunities for more than two thousand Russian seamen.
 
Vladimir Putin, President of Russia, sent Novoship a greeting telegram. He emphasised that today Novoship “is justly considered as one of the flagships of the Russian and world tanker fleet” and pointed out that the Novoship team is comprised of top-ranked specialists who venerate the company’s history and many years of tradition, while steadily adopting cutting-edge technologies. “I’m sure that you will always be solving actual issues and help further enhance the status of Russian business with due professionalism”, - notes the telegram.
 
In his speech, the head of SCF Group Sergey Frank said, “Novorossiysk Shipping Company was built on the foundation of age-old traditions of operating tankers in the Black Sea. Since 1885, when the Russian tanker Svet embarked on her voyage through the Black Sea, thousands of nautical miles have been covered and several generations of seafarers have changed, with each generation transferring knowledge, experience, love of the sea and seamanship onto the next. We are proud that the accumulated knowledge and experience continue to serve for the benefit of our domestic transport industry. The consolidation of the assets of Sovcomflot and Novoship has resulted in the emergence of Russia’s largest shipping company, a world leader in the transportation of energy by sea. The consolidation of the two companies was extremely timely, and enabled us to overcome one of the longest recessions in the modern history of the tanker business. By joining Sovcomflot Group, Novoship gave a powerful impulse for the development of the entire enterprise. The management of the Group should like to thank the entire team and our respected veterans for many years of work at sea and ashore, for the benefit of the Russian merchant fleet. Today the Group has serious strategic objectives. Undoubtedly, the experience in operating a conventional tanker fleet accumulated in Novorossiysk – Russia’s tanker capital – will help us to achieve these objectives with the maximum efficiency.”
 
Victor Olersky, Deputy Minister of Transport of the Russian Federation, Head of the Federal Marine and River Transport Agency, said in his speech:
 
“The development strategy of Novorossiysk Shipping Company has always been based on the principals of high quality shipping and high social responsibility. From the very beginning the company’s management recognised that it was all about the staff and made efforts to ensure a strong workforce capacity. And in modern history this tradition is continuing. As part of Sovcomflot Group, a global leader in the seaborne transportation of energy resources, Novoship has entered a new phase of development. Recent years have not been easy for the entire freight market and its tanker segment is no exception. Nevertheless, Novoship and Sovcomflot Group have generally managed to maintain the positive momentum and implement a number of promising projects. All this was possible due to the dedicated teamwork of highly skilled marine and onshore professionals who comprise a unique team of like-minded colleagues”.