Vladivostok News

President Vladimir Putin signed on Wednesday a decree transferring to Russia's state nuclear power company Rosatom state-owned shares of the Far Eastern Shipping Company, parent company of transportation group Fesco.Fesco was formerly controlled by Ziyavudin Magomedov, who was convicted last year on organized crime and embezzlement charges and is serving a 19-year jail sentence following one of the highest-profile prosecutions of a Russian tycoon in years.Magamedov says the charges are unfounded and is appealing his conviction.

Russian tycoon Ziyavudin Magomedov, jailed at home in Russia, has launched a London lawsuit seeking nearly $14 billion over his holdings in valuable port operators, which he says were seized as part of a state-backed conspiracy.The businessman filed the lawsuit at London's High Court on July 20 against several defendants, including Russian state nuclear energy company Rosatom, oil pipeline operator Transneft, private equity firm TPG, and UAE-based port operator DP World.Magomedov…

India and Russia will explore the possibility of using new transport corridors such as the Northern Sea Route and Eastern Maritime Corridor between Vladivostok and Chennai to widen maritime cooperation, the Indian government said on Wednesday.A decision to work towards this was made during a meeting between India's Ports, Shipping and Waterways minister, Sarbananda Sonowal, and Russia's Development of the Far East and Arctic minister, A.O.

Russia and India are looking at expanding the use of the Northern Sea shipping route that passes through the Arctic and which could include the building of processing facilities, Russia's Interfax agency reported on Wednesday. Alexei Chekunkov, Russia's minister for the development of the Far East and the Arctic, is visiting India and a key issue in his talks with Indian officials was the "reliable and safe" transportation of goods through the Northern Sea Route using Russian and Indian ports, Interfax reported.

The European Union and the United States are now targeting maritime protection and indemnity (P&I) insurance clubs to limit Russian shipping capacity and cap the price of its oil, meaning we’re finally beginning to see some smart sanctions for a stupid war.P&I clubs are maritime insurance groups that specialize in open-ended, large-risk claims. P&I insurance is a requirement for all heavy cargo and container vessels. Under the new sanctions, European P&I clubs can no longer offer insurance to a vessel carrying Russian oil at a price higher than $60 a barrel.Since February 2022…

President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that Russia and the developing world had been "cheated" by a UN-brokered Ukrainian grain export deal, vowing to look to revise its terms to limit the countries that can receive shipments.Speaking at an economic forum in the city of Vladivostok in Russia's Far East, Putin took aim at the deal, brokered by Turkey and the United Nations, saying Ukrainian grain exports were not going to the world's poorest countries as originally intended. "What we see is a brazen deception ...

President Vladimir Putin mooted on Wednesday reopening a U.N.-brokered deal for Ukrainian grain exports via the Black Sea and threatened to halt all energy supplies to Europe if Brussels caps the price of Russian gas.In a combative speech to an economic forum in Russia's Far East region, Putin made little reference to his invasion of Ukraine, but said in answer to a question that Russia would not lose the war and had strengthened its sovereignty.On the ground, Ukrainian officials…

Chinese shipments to and from Russia accelerated in August compared with a month earlier, contrasting with slower flows elsewhere amid weak global demand.Chinese shipments to Russia, which has been hit by Western sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine, rose 26.5% from a year earlier in dollar terms, up from a 22.2% gain in July, Reuters calculations based on Chinese customs data on Wednesday showed.Imports from Russia jumped 59.3% versus a 49.3% increase in July.Russia is a major source of oil…

Shipping group Maersk still has vessels calling at Russian ports to deliver containers booked before the invasion of Ukraine began and to pick up around 50,000 containers stranded in Russia, Chief Executive Soren Skou said on Tuesday.The company has temporarily halted new container bookings to and from Russia, as a consequence of what the Kremlin calls a “special military operation” in Ukraine.“We have about 50,000 of our containers in Russia today. Most of them are empty, they are our property,” Skou said.“We need them, and we are very reluctant to leave them in Russia.

Shipping group Maersk will temporarily halt all container shipping to and from Russia in response to Western sanctions on Moscow following its invasion of Ukraine, the company said on Tuesday.The move follows similar decisions by Singapore-headquartered Ocean Network Express (ONE), Germany's Hapag Lloyd HLAG.DE and Swiss-based shipping group MSC.The suspension, covering all Russian ports, would not include foodstuffs, medical and humanitarian supplies, Maersk said."As the stability and safety of our operations is already being directly and indirectly impacted by sanctions…

Russia said one of its military vessels chased away a U.S. naval destroyer that attempted to violate Russian territorial waters during Russian-Chinese naval drills in the Sea of Japan on Friday.There was no immediate comment from the U.S. side.The Russian defense ministry said the crew of a Russian anti-submarine vessel, the Admiral Tributs, had radioed a warning to the USS Chafee that it was "in an area closed to navigation due to exercises with artillery fire".The U.S. destroyer failed to change course and instead raised flags indicating it was preparing to launch a helicopter from its deck…

Marubeni Corporation and Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (MOL) are working together to develop a dual-fuel methanol/very-low sulfur fuel oil powered vessel to ship methanol from Russia.On September3, during the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, Russia, the Japanese firms signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Ministry of the Russian Federation for Development of the Far East and the Arctic Regions, State Development Corporation VEB.RF, VTB Bank and ESN Limited Liability Company (ESN Group) to commence a joint study to build…

Russia on Friday begins laying its first undersea fiber optic communications cable through the Arctic as part of a state-run project to bring high-speed internet to its remote hydrocarbon-rich north after a private-led initiative stalled.Moscow is aiming to improve patchy communications and infrastructure in its far north where it has expanded its military presence and is developing the Northern Sea Route to become a major shipping lane.The cable link, due to be completed in 2026…

Unable to get a slot on a container vessel, Lee Sang-hoon is considering using fishing trawlers docked for repair in the South Korean port of Busan to meet surging export orders for the car engine oil he sells to Russia."China is the black hole in this shipping crisis, all the carriers are headed there," said Lee, owner of Dongkwang International Co. in Busan which makes about 20 billion won ($17.60 million) in annual revenue."Those fishing boats out there could be an answer for us because we're already one month behind schedule.

Rare cargoes of diesel from China and South Korea have started to arrive in Russia due to a quirk in Russia's tax system which is making fuel shipments from abroad more profitable, data from traders and Refinitiv Eikon showed on Thursday.Because of a local tax scheme, Russian oil firms are due to make higher payments to the government despite a slump in oil prices due to excess supplies and the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.That means the companies have little incentive to cut domestic retail prices for gasoline and diesel.But with prices lower on the global market…

The FSUE “Rosmorport” icebreaker fleet provides continual navigation in several freezing Russian seaports.The icebreakers of the Arkhangelsk Branch, including the Captain Yevdokimov, the Captain Kosolapov and the Captain Chadaev, provide support for vessels in the seaport of Arkhangelsk.The icebreakers have provided support for 53 vessels since November 26, 2019. The icebreakers – the Tor and the Moskva provided support for 56 vessels in the seaport of Sabetta near the Utrenniy terminal.Since November 26 under control of the linear icebreakers – the Captain Demidov and the Captain Moshkin, the port’s towboat the Kama icebreaker of the Azov Basin Branch support has been provided for 274 vessels in the seaports of Taganrog…

FESCO Transportation Group, the largest intermodal transport operator in Russia, announced that a new container ship of ice class  ESCO Moneron has recently joined the fleet.The national flag of the Russian Federation was raised on the ship on 21 November 2019.Container ship with a capacity of 822 TEU will be operated on FESCO Magadan cabotage service (FML), that already includes FESCO Magadan sister ship, purchased last year, and FESCO Posyet universal bulk carrier.FESCO Moneron container ship is planned to be put on the line in the end of 2019 or in the beginning of 2020 at the latest.Arc4 ice class of the vessel complies with the standards needed for work in the northern part of the Sea of Okhotsk in winter. The ship is fitted with modern equipment and has a high degree of automation.

On October 6, 2019, a naming and flag raising ceremony was held in Vladivostok for Sovcomflot’s latest Arctic shuttle tanker. The vessel was named after Mikhail Lazarev, a prominent Russian admiral and explorer known for his discovery of Antarctica. The tanker was ordered by Sovcomflot to transport crude oil for the Novy Port project, under a long-term agreement between Sovcomflot and Gazprom Neft.The ceremony was attended by Oleg Melnikov, Vice-Governor of Primorsky Region and Sergey Frank…

Russian maritime shipping company PAO Sovcomflot approved transactions with Zvezda Shipbuilding Complex (Primorsky Region) and a subsidiary of JSC VEB Leasing to place orders for the construction of three new-generation MR product carriers using LNG as their main fuel.The vessels will be chartered to a subsidiary of PJSC NOVATEK under twenty year time-charter agreements, said a press release from the state-owned firm specializing in LNG shipping.Sergey Frank, President and CEO of Sovcomflot, said: "We are grateful to PAO Sovcomflot’s shareholder and our partners PJSC NOVATEK and VEB.RF for supporting SCF’s environmental initiative that…

India and Russia have agreed on a five-year roadmap to step up cooperation in the hydrocarbon sector, including investment, not only in exploration and production in each other's oil and gas fields but also in downstream projects.India invited Russian companies to invest in its oil refining and petrochemical projects as the two nations vowed to increase energy cooperation going beyond LNG supplies and stakes in Russian oil and gas fields.According to a joint statement issued after India Prime Minister Narendra Modi's annual bilateral summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Vladivostok, Indian state-owned firms, which already have stakes in four sets of oil and gas fields in Russia…

FESCO Transportation Group, the largest intermodal transport operator in Russia, announced that the ice-class container vessel “FESCO Magadan”, with full capacity of 822 TEU, joined its fleet."The flag of the Russian Federation was solemnly raised on the ship on July 2, the day of the formation of the city of Vladivostok," said a press note from the public transportation and logistics company.The container ship will be operated on FESCO cabotage service “FESCO Magadan Line”. The launch of this container carrier on “FESCO Magadan Line” is scheduled for August, 2019.The ice rate meets the standards required for operation in the northern part of the Sea of Okhotsk during winter-time.

The largest intermodal transport operator in Russia FESCO Transportation Group started seasonal transportation to Anadyr and Egvekinot, the ports of the Chukotka Autonomous Region, under the Northern Supply Haul.General cargo ship “FESCO Pioner” set sail for Anadyr on June 13, 2019. FESCO vessel will deliver to Anadyr about 4 500 tons of containerized and general cargo.The approximate date of arrival of this general cargo ship to Chukotka is June, 22. Delivery of the goods on linear service "FESCO Anadyr Direct Line" (FADL) is to last until the end of October.FADL service provides transportation all kinds of cargoes, such as dry and general cargoes…

Japanese transport company Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) held a "MOL Safety Conference 2019" for seafarers of the MOL group from February to end of May at 5 locations worldwide, which almost 800 seafarers have attended.The locations were Tokyo (Japan), Mumbai (India), Manila (Philippines), Dubrovnik (Croatia) and  Vladivostok (Russia).MOL Chairman Koichi Muto and President & CEO Junichiro Ikeda along with many other MOL executives and staff members participated in the conference to discuss with seafarers about the safe operation.The Safety Conference has been held annually since 2007 with the main purpose of fostering a safety culture within the organization.