Russia’s Port of Novorossiysk
If you plan to move commercial freight into or out of Russia, some knowledge about the potential seaports can be beneficial. Since the ports highlighted in this article are among Russia’s largest, there’s a good chance that your freight will travel through them.
The Port of Novorossiysk is Russia’s major Black Sea port and home to the Sheskharis Oil Terminal and the Fleet of the Russian Navy on the Black Sea. It is also a terminus for the oil pipeline coming from northwestern Kazakhstan’s Tengiz Field, making it the Black Sea’s largest oil hub.
The Port of Novorossiysk is located at the mouth of Tsemes Bay. Throughout the year, the Bay is ice-free and navigable. During the winter, navigation is occasionally halted due to the deadly northern bora wind.
The NCSP Group (Novorossiysk Commercial Sea Port Group) is the major commercial seaport operator in Russia. The corporation is headquartered in Novorossiysk and operates the Novorossiysk Port, as well as the Baltic ports of Baltiysk and Primorsk. The Port’s facilities are connected to a vast network of rails and highways, providing access to the important population, industrial, and agricultural areas.
Port History
Throughout history, the Black Sea has served as a crossroads, with a wide range of commodities passing through it on their way to Central Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. The Black Sea water is less salty than the ocean as it receives freshwater from the Danube, Dnestr, Dnepr, and Don rivers.
Back in 1872, a committee was appointed by the royal mandate of Tsar Alexander II to locate and determine suitable sites for a new seaport on the Black Sea coast. The proximity to the Vladikavkaz Railway was a key factor in site selection. The new Port of Novorossiysk was constructed on the site of the ancient coast defense forts. The first vessel, a French ‘Mingreli’ filled with grain, sailed off to the new Port of Novorossiysk in 1888.
The Port of Novorossiysk grew rapidly in the nineteenth century. New berths (West, East, and a few more) opened by 1895. Most timber exports of pre-revolutionary Russia flowed through the St. Petersburg and Arkhangelsk Ports, but moved to Novorossiysk afterward. In 1918, the Port opened its first major shipyard. In 1926, the Novorossiysk-based company EXPORTLES was founded, and it quickly became Russia’s exclusive timber seller.
By 1940, the Port of Novorossiysk had established itself as one of the most important ports in the Soviet Union’s south. It comprised 4 loading areas, a cabotage site, import and cement docks, and the West Embankment. In the early-to-mid 1960s, Sheskharis Oil Terminal, ‘Shirokiy’ Dock, workshops, a passenger harbor, and even a ‘Sailors’ Palace were added. By 1980, the NCSP’s timber terminal had expanded to 56.8 hectares and had become a federally significant enterprise.
The Port of Novorossiysk went public in 1992 and was renamed NOVOROSLESEXPORT before being privatized. It became a multi-purpose harbor that handled a variety of freight. In 1999, the first container terminal opened. The NCSP Group acquired NOVOROSLESEXPORT in 2006. In 1985, the Novorossiysk Shipyard, launched the 60,000 tons capacity drydock. In 2006, the shipyard joined the NCSP Group.
Construction of a new oil transshipment complex on Tsemes Bay, near Sheskharis Cape, began in 1960 as part of Russia’s oil industry growth initiative. The Terminal operates three docks, its tank fields cover 99,000 m3. The Sheskharis harbor accounted for almost 30 percent of Russian oil exports by 2012.
The Naval Base of Novorossiysk was founded in 1920. It has five berths that can accommodate up to 100 warships ranging in size from 1,500 to 30,000 DWT. The Russian Navy’s seven diesel-powered submarines are housed at the submarine base.
General Description and Contact Info
Port Location: Krasnodar Krai, Russia
Latitude: 44° 42′ 54″ N
Longitude: 37° 48′ 25″ E
UN/LOCODE: RUNVS
Corporate Office: 2, Mira St, Novorossiysk, Krasnodar Krai, 353900 Russia
Phone: +7 (8617) 60-46-30
Web Site: http://www.nmtp.info/en
Email: mail@ncsp.com
Port Commerce: Business Profile, Operations, Size, Capacity, Turnover
The NCSP Group unites 8 corporate companies, delivering Stevedoring and Additional Port Services, Fleet Services, and Other Services. The Stevedoring and Additional Port Services Division, which provides for the majority of revenue, receives and moves cargo by pipeline, train, and truck, assembles shiploads, and transfers it to vessels. The NCSP’s Stevedoring Services include loading and unloading of petroleum and petroleum products, mineral fertilizers, metal products, containers, grains, timber, chemicals, raw sugar, as well as fuel bunkering. The Fleet Services Division provides towing, tugging, waste collection, firefighting services, ship-fuelling services. Other Services include freight forwarding, storage, ship repair and maintenance, customs documentation.
The NCSP’s shares have been listed on the Moscow Stock Exchange, while the Group’s GDRs have been traded on the London Stock Exchange.
Most of the NCSP’s growth last year was export-driven, propelled by the ongoing containerization of export cargo in Russia. Imports rose as well. A major factor in the higher import total is the lifting restrictions on Turkish imports to Russia.
The NCSP’s Container Terminal, opened in 1999, handles containers, provides warehousing, and facilitates the loading and unloading of container platforms for distribution. The Panamax container ships can dock at the NCSP Container Terminal. The terminal is equipped for loading containers from sea shore and on train cars, storing refrigerated reefer containers, sorting and warehousing containers, restuffing, and customs inspections. This year, Novorossiysk’s container cargo volumes continued to grow, although the port’s major focus is still bulk liquid cargoes, primarily oil. However, moving forward, officials expect this portion of the port’s business to decrease, as the development of the container cargo business has become one of the priorities for Novorossiysk’s executives.
The harbor at the NCSP was 344 hectares in size in 2017, with a land area of 278.12 ha. Novorossiysk Port comprises 89 berths with a total length of 15,627 meters and an annual capacity of 208,793 thousand tons (2017). The entire port territory is divided into the following areas: Passenger Terminal, Sheskharis Oil Terminal, three cargo terminals (Central, East, and West). The NCSP maintains open-air and covered storage. The Port covers 51 hectares with timber and general cargo storage and 14 hectares with container storage. The NCSP’s transportation infrastructure includes19 railway lines, 13 of which are used to load and unload the freight. The daily capacity of the Port’s roadways is 100 vehicles.
The NCSP Group’s consolidated cargo turnover for 7M 2021 was 67.4 million tons, down 2.3 percent from the previous year. The overall amount of transshipped liquid cargo was 53.1 million tons. Crude oil plummeted to 31.7 million tons (7.5 percent down). Transshipment of dry cargo increased to 14.3 million tons (6.6 percent up).
Advantages of Shipping with the NCSP
Momentum is already building in Novorossiysk, making the port attractive for entrepreneurs. The Port of Novorossiysk is now finishing an ambitious large-scale building project that will enable it to compete for the title of busiest and largest container hub in the region and increase its annual container capacity to 1 million TEU.
The NCSP is linked to international logistic lanes that connect Russia to Southeast Asia, countries of the Mediterranean basin, North Africa, the Middle East, South America, and other parts of the world, making it the main transit route for Russian imports and exports.
Shippers from China and other Asia-Pacific countries are already interested in the expanded NCSP since it will allow them to transfer cargo to Europe faster. The Shanghai-St. Petersburg sea route—a traditional destination for Europe-bound Asian cargo—is 11,432 miles long (35 to 40 days). Compare it to 8,395 miles (or 23 to 27 days) of the Shanghai-Novorossiysk route. Multiple online sources quoted CREDO TRANS experts as stating that the Shanghai-St. Petersburg route costs $1,400 to $1,800 per TEU and $2,070 to $2,200 per FEU. In contrast, the Shanghai-Novorossiysk route charges $1,860 to $2,100 per TEU and $2,535 to $2,700 per FEU. Despite being generally more expensive, the Shanghai-Novorossiysk route may be of interest to shippers specializing in high-priced cargo delivery, including perishable cargo. The Novorossiysk route may appeal to shippers whose markets are in Southern Europe, while St. Petersburg is better suited to freight destined for the Scandinavian countries and Northern Europe.
Another advantage of the NCSP is that Tsemes Bay does not freeze during winter. There is, however, a negative regional weather factor — hurricane winds, which affect the port seasonally.
One more advantage of the NCSP is that post-expansion, the port will have the most high-tech and automated terminals in Russia.
Prices, Fees, and Tariffs at the Port of Novorossiysk
The Ministry of Transport of Russia approves, reviews, and updates the list of harbor fees, dues, and tariffs in the seaports of Russia, including the NCSP.
Several factors determine the freight rates charged by freight forwarders at the NCSP, including the total size of products, shipping distance, urgency, shipment classification, and temperature requirements.
The latest advancements in information technology and software make it easier than ever to comprehend the rates and the whole freight transportation and value chain.
To understand better the prices at the NCSP, see below a snapshot of the lowest rates charged for shipping 20 ft FCL containers to/from Novorossiysk as of September 2021.
- Madrid to Novorossiysk — starting at $585
- Algeciras to Novorossiysk— starting at $597
- Valencia to Novorossiysk — starting at $597
- New York to Novorossiysk — starting at $1,381
- Los Angeles to Novorossiysk — starting at $1,823
- Novorossiysk to Algeciras— starting at $475
- Novorossiysk to Valencia — starting at $923
- Novorossiysk to Barcelona — starting at $923
- Novorossiysk to New York — starting at $3,408
- Novorossiysk to Norfolk — starting at $3,408
Get some negotiation suggestions from CREDO TRANS if you want to effectively reduce shipping and fulfillment costs and increase operational productivity in Russia, particularly in Novorossiysk.
Top Shipping Routes To/From Novorossiysk
Over the decades, Novorossiysk has established transit routes with seaports of North and South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. The Port is linked to the nation’s major industrial zones by a sophisticated network of railroads and highways. Several international transport corridors—TRACECA, the Pan-European Highway, the Trans-Siberian Railway, North-South International Transport Corridor—all call Novorossiysk their final destination.
Top-5 routes for shipping containers to and from Novorossiysk are Algeciras (Spain) – Novorossiysk, Barcelona (Spain) – Novorossiysk, Los Angeles (US) – Novorossiysk, New York (US) – Novorossiysk, Valencia (Spain) – Novorossiysk.
The routes Norfolk – Novorossiysk, Oakland – Novorossiysk, Savannah – Novorossiysk take the longest – an average of 59 days – to carry a container to Novorossiysk. With an average travel time of 4 days, the Atlanta, Ga – Novorossiysk route is the quickest way to ship a container to Novorossiysk.
Top Reasons to Choose CREDO TRANS for Transport and Logistics at the Port of Novorossiysk
For 10 long years, CREDO TRANS has been instrumental in connecting businesses in Russia with top global markets and making supply chains customer-centric. Our company works with the world’s largest seaports and major freight hubs. Through its representative offices, CREDO TRANS transports freight by sea on 27 routes, utilizing the infrastructure of all terminals at Russia’s biggest ports, including Novorossiysk. Our company provides local expertise and a global network to get your cargo to its destination on time, whether it’s regular, refrigerated, or oversized freight.
CREDO TRANS sees a lot of potential In the Port of Novorossiysk. The Port is completing its large-scale construction project that will allow it to compete for the title of the region’s busiest and largest container hub. Our company has been providing a broad variety of freight forwarding and customs logistics services, including moving perishable commodities in refrigerators through the NCSP. We have a great deal of experience with customs registration of freight imports/exports. CREDO TRANS’ long-term relationships with sea line agents at the Port of Novorossiysk allow the company’s customers to benefit from certain discounts on sea freight transportation from/to the Port of Novorossiysk. CREDO TRANS has access to a big fleet of trucks and can provide the fastest delivery times.
The rest of the world is just a short hop away with CREDO TRANS.