NUTEP, which is 100% owned by the Delo-Group, currently has three berths - 39, 39a and 39b – that provide a total berth length of 754m and serve ro-ro vessels as well as container ships. This quay is currently served by three ship-to-shore cranes with a fourth crane on order. This new Liebherr post-Panamax crane should be commissioned in September and will take the terminal’s handling capacity to over 400,000TEU per annum.
Novorossiysk is the largest container port in the Black Sea and the principal gateway to Southern Russia. Since May 2012, NUTEP has won two new regional/common feeder services:
• United Feeder Service (UFS) has started a Turkey/Black Sea service with the port rotation Istanbul – Constanta – Poti - Novorossiysk – Istanbul. Currently, UFS is using a single 1022TEU vessel Volos to maintain the weekly service.
• The ARKAS Group’s feeder specialist EMES is now linking NUTEP with two terminals in Istanbul - Marport and Mardas – on a weekly basis using three 1604TEU ships: Claire A, Diane A and Wanda A. This service forms part of the larger ARKAS East Med - Russia Express service that calls Novorossiysk, Marport, Gemlik, Izmir, Mersin, Famagusta, Alexandria, Marport and Evyap.
In the first five months of 2012, NUTEP handled 94,270TEU, which was 18.5% up compared to the same period in 2011. Its main customers are Maersk Line, CMA CGM, Admiral Container Lines and CSAV.
NUTEP is also expanding its landside operations to cope with the expected increase in traffic. The existing rail facility is being relocated and expanded to provide a five-track railway park. The effective length of the new park - 380-540 m - will facilitate the handling of two block trains simultaneously, compared to just one at the present time.
With the relocation of the existing rail tracks, NUTEP's CY will expand its intake capacity from about 12,000TEU to 20,000TEU by early 2013.
Other terminals in Novorossiysk, NLE and NCSP - which both belong to the holding company Novorossiysk Commercial Sea Port - are also considering expansion of capacity in the coming years, based mainly on conversion of existing multi-purpose facilities to container handling.
In view of this development and increasing demand from its customers, who work with all three terminals, the Global Container Service Group (GCS) – being the largest private intermodal operator in Southern Russia and Novorossiysk – has recently added 224 rail flat-cars, each 80ft long, to its existing fleet and plans to increase the number of long-term leased flat-cars operated by Ruscon to over 450 units. These will be deployed in block trains operated by Ruscon, a member of the GCS Group.
As a multimodal specialist, Ruscon already operates several regular intermodal services from the port of Novorossiysk to principal destinations in the European part of Russia, including Moscow. This new capacity will enable Ruscon to expand its block train operations further.
Taking the Long Term View
Speaking recently, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of NUTEP’s parent company GC “Delo”, Timofey Telyatnik, said that they planned to triple the capacity of the container terminal and, in addition, to double the capacity of the grain terminal, which they also operate in Novorossiysk. This will be achieved by the construction of new railways and deepwater berths, he added.
Currently NUTEP is the biggest terminal in Novorossiysk in terms of capacity and second biggest by throughput. Telyatnik saw this as a positive factor. While the other two are running at close to capacity, especially in peak periods, NUTEP has ample capacity to take on new business. He emphasised:
“NUTEP currently has the largest capacity reserve – 40% or over 150,000TEU – in Novorossiysk and the Azov-Black Sea basin.
“Other container terminals operate
