After Four-Day Closure, Russian Port Re-Opens

The Russian oil port of Novorossiisk re-opened early on Monday after a nearly four-day closure, industry sources said.

Officials said the port, which shut down at 1 p.m. on Thursday, had reopened at 8:55 a.m. Monday morning. The port was also open briefly for about 10 hours on Saturday.

Winds of up to 82 ft. per second and swells of up to four m has calmed, with the forecast calling for winds of 20-36 ft. per second, up to 46 ft. per second, and swells of just 2-4 ft.

Due to the most recent closure and delays from earlier in the month, the port was approximately seven days behind loading the longest-waiting vessel, although subsequent ships had only been at the port waiting for two or three days.

Novorossiisk handles the bulk of seaborne exports from Russia and other countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States to the Mediterranean market.