Page 35 - Журнал Sozvezdye Review - «СОЗВЕЗДИЕ» #41

equipment for the Arctic offshore oil and gas devel- shallow depths. But deepwater areas aren’t only pos- bled. Therefore, Arkhangelsk’s “Arctic activity” should
opment, offshore platforms, propulsion systems and sible, they are absolutely necessary here. This would be measured not in tons, but based on load rates being
their components, specialized vessels, nuclear-pow- the right point to start from if we want investors to experienced by its nodal elements. General cargoes are
ered icebreakers and customized marine equipment appear. complex in the sense that they require extra services,
for use in high latitudes. The deep-water area could appear here even in two special handling technologies, storage conditions and
Ship repair services are available from quite a places – the remoter zone for handling bulk (dusty, special packaging. Remote locations would simply be
number of the local shipyards – Krasnaya Kuznit- dangerous) cargoes and the estuarine water area – the unable to do it all. All of it is done here. This is what
sa, Arkhangelsk Trawl Fleet maintenance facility, latter currently receiving more terminals and may, in we call logistics keeping Arctic projects going – plants,
Arkhangelsk Fleet Repair and Maintenance Facili- the future, be chosen as a location for new ship repair mining facilities, shift camps. This would be enough
ty, Laisky Ship Repair Yard, Optimist Group, Pomor yards. The distributary of Korabelny or Kuznechikha load for some time – fifty years minimum.
Shipyard. These and other shipyards provide repairs could serve as main deep-water fairway. Here appear The enterprises interested in using Arkhangelsk
and refurbishment to sea- and river-going ships, fish- new terminals, evidencing that there is good poten- as their transshipment point do need deeper along-
ing vessels, icebreakers, research ships and the fleet tial for Arkhangelsk to become a transport hub. It just side depths. All else is here – railways, motor ways,
involved in Northern Supply Haul and delivery of needs more port areas and these need deeper depths airports, well-developed industrial and urban envi-
cargoes to the Arctic projects. and specialization. And, if we talk about reorienting ronment. But, it would be good to also have a rail-
Now that ship repairs can no longer be received at the existing cargo flows, these depths should be the way line avoiding bridges, for bridges are a risk. Any
European ports, more shipowners are turning to the deepest. slightest probability of risk should better be avoided,
domestic yards, including those in Arkhangelsk. The Arkhangelsk is a strategic port of Russia. It is well and in this sense Belkomur is just the right project.
yards, in turn, have set about upgrading their facili- protected and has direct access to the World Ocean. The area around its northern haul is where timber in-
ties and capacity, and in doing so many rely on their No investment will be excessive to promote its further dustries operate. Add to this the timber coming from
own investment sources. Our major defense enter- growth, and the moment is now. The only trouble is the Komi Republic, and the main body of the cargo
prises have been placed with orders for two floating the probability of foreign policy events taking a nega- base in right in your hand for shipping both by road
docks. Once completed, not only will they absolutely tive course, but that’s highly improbable. and sea.
increase our capacity for meeting the procurement The path for Arkhangelsk to follow is towards When it comes to timber sector, it only changed
needs of both defense and civil sectors, they will min- containerization. It should be a port for Eastern direction, not sources of its export sales. The sources
imize our problem of dock space shortage. shipments and East-bound timber, pulp and paper. of raw wood remain unchanged. They are Arkhan-
It should focus more on pellets as a potential cargo. gelsk, Karelia and Komi. We now have to think dif-
Sofia Katkova, Morstroytechnology, Project Man- Only then will it be able to retain its status as a main- ferently here: we should try and consolidate the trade vatek and Norilsk Nickel, followed by Gazpromneft
ager: stay of the Arctic projects. Its role as such didn’t start at source, not market, and then approach the market and construction sites of Vostok Oil, Severnaya Zvez-
In my opinion, Arkhangelsk gets much less atten- yesterday. It didn’t start with the 18th-century geo- with large, consolidated consignments. da, Baim Mining and Processing facility, and Arctic
tion in the NSR Development Plan than it actually de- graphical expeditions, it started when Arkhangelsk LNG 2. Until 2022, cargoes would be transported via
serves. The part regarding it (“integrated development got to handle cargoes bound for the Norilsk Indus- Vladimir Panov, Rosatom State Corporation, the NSR mostly to Europe, but now their direction is
as a transport hub”) sounds rather broad, but it gives trial Hub – more than 70 years ago. Special Representative on Arctic Development: towards East. In the eastern sector of the NSR, regular
Arkhangelsk more room for maneuver – the port can Arkhangelsk uses its capacity mostly to meet the In late 2022, the NSR showed an almost one-mil- year-round navigation is no simple thing, and we are
choose which of its development targets should be ad- needs of Arctic projects. The increasing number of ships lion-ton increase in its cargo traffic, amounting to working on it together with the shippers.
dressed first. Unfortunately, Arkhangelsk has to prove calling at its sea port area is proof of that. Over the past 34.1 million and contributed solely by the Russian The Northern Sea Route represents a new devel-
that it’s high time it went beyond its current frame- five years, ship calls have increased six-fold, and car- shippers. Its 2022 target was thus exceeded by two opment vector. Last time the global logistics land-
work and evolved as a seaport. Its only constraint is go turnover at the adjacent railway stations has dou- million tons. The number one contributors are No- scape changed so radically was a century ago. There
are constraints, of course, but once the geopolitical
tensions have subsided, the Northern Sea Route will
be seen as one of the most attractive logistics lines
on the global map. The interest in NSR as a transit
route is very high, and so is its potential. Logistics
professionals understand the importance to Russia of
its unique experience of Arctic shipping. And anoth-
er thing we all understand is that the Northern Sea
Route is where international logistics operators can
easily hedge risks.
What we are witnessing is the emergence of a fun-
damentally new model of the Arctic shipping – with
icebreakers to ensure passage through difficult ice
(the nuclear-powered fleet alone has seven icebreak-
ers) and with modern cargo ships of the highest Arc-
tic class. The Arctic projects currently employ 43 ice-
reinforced ships. For them to meet all their goals, they
need at least 130 before 2030. This is a challenge for
the domestic shipbuilding sector: there will be many
orders to deliver, top skills to apply, and high tech-
nologies to use.

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