St. Petersburg was founded as a port city that gave the Russian Empire access to European expanses. Thanks to sea communication, the city grew and developed rapidly. Today, the "Big Port of St. Petersburg" is the most important transport hub, which annually receives hundreds of thousands of ships of various types.
General characteristics
In the north-west of Russia, the "Big Sea Port of St. Petersburg" is the most important trade and passenger transport hub. It is located on the Neva Bay, which cuts into land in the Eastern part of the Gulf of Finland, belonging to the B altic Sea. The territory of the port consists of numerous islands formed by the delta of the Neva River.
The port operates all year round. From about November to April, the sea surface is covered with ice. In order for the ships to have access to the berths, service icebreakers help them in cold weather, paving the way to land.
By its structure, the "Big Port of St. Petersburg" consists ofberths of different ports of smaller sizes: timber, commercial, passenger, fish and river. It also includes several shipbuilding and repair plants, an oil terminal, the Lomonosov and Kronstadt berths, the port points of Bronka and Gorskaya.
Thus, we can safely say that the "Big Port of St. Petersburg" has a rather complex structure. Its layout includes many canals and moorings for various purposes.
The system of fairways and their features
In total, the length of the berths of the "Big Port" is more than 9 km. Long and not very long channels lead to them, laid for access by ships of different sizes. The longest - to the pier of Kronstadt, located behind the island of Kotlin. The channel parameters are simply impressive. Its length exceeds 27 miles. The depth allows you to receive ships with a draft of 11 m. At the same time, the ship itself can be up to 260 m long and about 40 m wide.
Ships of much larger dimensions are accepted by the "Big Port of St. Petersburg" in a completely different way. The seaport, for example, serves oil trawlers in the outer roadstead. They do not need to go far inland.
In general, the port consists of approximately 60 berths. A variety of channels up to 12 m deep lead to them. Their length varies depending on the size of the ships received and the purpose of their arrival in the ports of St. Petersburg.
First Port Area
For ease of maintenance and management of all facilities, the administration"Big Port of St. Petersburg" divided it into several districts. Each of them is served by its own cargo company. In addition, the berths of these areas differ significantly in their purpose, which makes it possible to systematize ships and provide them with the most adequate services.
The first area consists of fourteen berths. From the first to the seventh, they accept cargo ships that transport goods in containers. Loading and unloading operations are carried out with the help of 23 port cranes. Their maximum load capacity is 40 tons.
Here you can also leave goods for storage in open or closed warehouses, the total area of which exceeds 125,000 sq.m. Serves this area CJSC Second Stevedoring Company.
The remaining seven berths are for exploration and expedition ships. Port ships are also located here.
Second waterfront
Every outside observer is fascinated by the Big Port of St. Petersburg. Photos reflect all its greatness and scale. Especially often the second port area gets into the lens, which receives the ships of the passenger navy.
This area consists of berths 15-41 with a total length of about 3 km. They accept berths of vessels with a draft not exceeding 11 m. The cargo division specializes in bulk products such as grain, fertilizers, cereals, sugar.
Here there are special facilities for the processing of mineral fertilizers in bulk. The district processes up to a hundred wagons per day,and up to twelve thousand tons of bulk cargo can be stored in the warehouse.
All berths, except for the 27th, are served by First Stevedoring Company CJSC. The twenty-seventh berth is taken care of by B altic Fleet LLC.
During the summer navigation season 32-34, the berths are being rebuilt to accommodate large ocean-going cruise ships.
Third Port Area
Coal and forest harbors limit the third area of the port. It consists of thirteen berths that specialize in containers, transshipment of timber and ferrous metal.
Since the ships are quite large for such cargo, then, accordingly, the specifics of their reception, which is monitored by the "Big Port of St. Petersburg", must be observed. Piloting in this area is organized in such a way that at berths 82-87 it is possible to receive even Ro-Ro vessels.
To cope with a large number of containers, this part of the port is equipped with all the necessary equipment, the carrying capacity of which reaches 35 tons. All work here is carried out by First Container Terminal CJSC.
Berths 67-70 are equipped for receiving and transshipping round timber. The terminal's capacity is up to 1 million tons of cargo per year. Timber transshipment is handled by CJSC Stevedoring Timber Company.
Fourth shopping district
The Turukhtan Islands, located in Coal Harbor, became the location of the fourth district. Here they are engaged in transshipment of bulk and liquid cargoes. To perform these functions, mostberths have a depth of up to 11 meters, since the ships transporting such cargo have impressive dimensions.
The main "actors" here are mineral fertilizers, coal, fossil ore, alumina, scrap metal. In order to quickly load and unload all of them, equipment is installed here that serves wagons and ships. Its efficiency is up to 5 million tons per year.
There are several companies serving this area. Some of them have only 1-2 berths, others help with loading operations in almost half of the port.
Oil receiving terminal
As mentioned earlier, the "Big Port of St. Petersburg" accepts large trawlers on the outer roads in the oil terminal. It is located in the immediate vicinity of the fourth district. Sea tankers up to 35 thousand tons are accepted for service. In addition, there are two berths for river tankers that come here from the Neva.
Today, the tanks in the terminal can take up to 42,000 cubic meters of light oil products and up to 132,000 cubic meters of dark ones. Thanks to this capacity, the terminal serves as a place for the formation of ships with export diesel fuel and fuel oil, which come to the berths in tanks and pipelines from nearby refineries.
In the future, it is planned to increase the tank farm by another 60 thousand cubic meters, as well as open a new berth for tankers with a draft of up to twelve and a half meters.
Loading operations at the terminal are possible thanks to CJSC Petersburg Oil Terminal. Railway communication with the continent is carried out using the Avtovo station on the Oktyabrskaya railway.
The oil terminal is the most important center for trade in refined oil products with most European countries. On land, such efficiency is almost impossible to achieve.
Forest and fishing ports
As it has already become clear, the captain of the "Big Port of St. Petersburg" manages a rather complex system of smaller ports and berths. Therefore, each of them has its own management and freight companies.
There are also very specific points for receiving cargo, for example, a forest port. Its functioning is complicated by the fact that wood and its products require special loading and storage conditions. Therefore, the fleet of loading equipment here is designed specifically for her.
Both stationary gantry and overhead cranes and mobile loaders of finished products work at the berths. At the same time, their carrying capacity ranges from 5 to 104 tons.
Closed-type warehouses with a total area of about 70,000 square meters are equipped to store delicate products. The open areas for the forest are more than 364 thousand square meters. Among them, there is enough space for storing containers of various types.
A fishing port is also specific in its functionality. He works with perishable goods, and this leaves its mark on him.arrangement. The port has 6 berths equipped for quick unloading of refrigerated cargo. The warehouses themselves are also mainly focused on cooling and long-term storage of frozen products.
Unlimited Freight Opportunities
Today, the Big Port of St. Petersburg simply amazes the imagination with its scale and capabilities for servicing the merchant fleet. Every year it receives hundreds of thousands of ships that bring millions of tons of cargo of various types. But the need for port development is growing every year.
For this reason, his administration always monitors the possibility of increasing service capacities, and plans always include the opening of new berths, warehouses, and deepening of channels. All this allows the Big Port to remain modern and able to meet the needs of the Russian Federation in sea cargo transportation.
