RUSSIAN PORTS TODAY AND TOMORROW

Here are such places on earth as Novaya Zemlya,
south island and the Beluga bay

Alexander Parfyonov
General Director
LENMORNIIPROJECT
open joint stock Company

        Seaports have been of great importance in providing transportation on all stages of the Arctic region's development. During the last fifty years, fifteen seaports have been built in northwest Russia and along the Northern Sea Route. Our institute has developed projects for the construction of ports in Murmansk, Kandalaksha, Mezen, Onega, Naryan-Mar, Anderm and the Dickson Island and well as piers for seaborn ships in Dudinka. Throughout these years Lenmorniiproject has taken part in the reconstruction and considerable development of the port in Archangelsk. New facilities were set up which then became part of the country's transportation system and that in turn, catered the needs of Northwest Russia and of the western Arctic.
        At the moment, in order to satisfy foreign trade needs, new terminals are being built in Murmansk and Kandalaksha while the project for the reconstruction of the piers in Arkhangelsk is actively being worked on. The large-scale exploitation of new deposits creates favorable conditions for the use of the northern and Arctic ports in the western sector. However, in order to provide oil, gas and ore transportation, it is necessary to create a comprehensive transportation strategy that coordinates all parameters and schedules with the mining operations. Recently, the press has published various different projects for the construction of a new port in the western sector. The "Northern Gates" Terminal project for oil transportation is considering as many as four potential sites for the construction of terminals in the districts of Varandei, Indiga and the Kalguev Island. There are preliminary projects for the construction of an oil port in Linahamori. However, these projects solve the oil transportation problem from the west Arctic in the interests of specific companies and do not take into account other freight traffic. For a number of reasons not one of the proposed plans received any further development.
        As for the TNRUS9584 project also called Transportation Development in the Northwest Region based on the TACIS program, it completely ignores the need for freight transportation, which is so essential for the economic development of the western Arctic sector. Foreign companies have recently begun to show great interest in obtaining concessions for the exploitation of ore deposits in the South Island of Novaya Zemlya. The absence of a comprehensive transportation system clearly hinders the economic development of the Northwest. All of this calls for the immediate creation of a transportation strategy with the construction of a new port as first priority.
        We believe that the ideal site for this new port is the South Island of the Novaya Zemlya Archipelago. Rich deposits of nonferrous and noble metals (manganese, lead, zinc, and silver) have been discovered there, 130-150 km from the Beluga Bay port. Their total supplies are estimated at 3 billion tons. On the shelf of the Barents and Kara seas, within 250-300 km from the Beluga Bay, numerous oil, gas and condensed gas deposits have been explored. Their total supplies amount to 30 billion tons of potential fuel, including 1,5 billion tons of oil, 250 million tons of condensed gas and over 15 trillion cubic meters of gas. This will provide a reliable power supply for the mining and petrochemical industries. However, the lack of transportation development strategies is obstructing the exploitation of these mineral resources, which are of world importance. This includes transportation links with the northwest including the western sector of the Arctic, all of which are of great interest to Russia, as well as to the European Union, Norway, Japan and other countries.
        The transportation process must be extremely reliable, regular and cost effective to counterweigh the difficulties of severe climate, the vastly extended location of deposits and the region's high environmental sensitivity to ecological disturbances. All of this should be taken into consideration when choosing routes for pipelines and constructing land and sea transportation units.
        The transportation system's final objective is to provide timely material and technical supplies to the production areas and to deliver on time the goods from the deposits to customers. Therefore, in the opinion of Lenmorniiproject, the optimal site for the construction of a new port is the Beluga Bay on the South Island of the Novaya Zemlya Archipelago. The advantages of this bay are its good geographic location in relation to the Northern Sea Route, its favorable climatic conditions and its proximity to ore and hydrocarbon deposits. The Beluga Bay's main attraction is that it is situated in a zone of warm current influence, and its natural conditions will allow year round navigation for vessels of all types and class with minimum expenses on icebreaker convoys. Even in the most severe winters the land-ice is 1 km long and less than 1 m thick. The bay is well protected from rough waters and from the incursion of drifting ice. The water depth at the mouth is 30-50 m and in the central area it is 10-30 m deep. The bay is virtually in the center of the shelf deposits and 130-150 km from the biggest ore deposit in the world. At present, a port already exists there with two loading and four auxiliary piers. There is also a settlement with all the necessary infrastructure. There is stone and sand on the island, and the eastern and northern parts are vast undeveloped areas. All of the above allows for construction in stages.
        The Beluga Bay is the ideal site for the construction of bulk and mechanic loading facilities, a cargo and supply terminal, a warehouse and a center for icebreaker convoys. The first stage is the delivery of 7 to 10 mln tons of oil from the deposits to the port using class feeder ships of 15-25 thousand tons deadweight. The next stage is the laying of a pipeline in the areas of Varandei and Prirazlomnoye to transport oil from the shelf and coastal deposits to the port. It could be possible to export oil directly from the port using 150-200 th. ton tankers. Experts estimate that by the year 2015 the total freight turnover of the port in Beluga Bay could reach 63-82 mln tons per year, including 40-50 million tons of oil, 15-20 million tons of ore, 5-7 million tons of various supplies and 3-5 million tons of containerized cargo freight. In order to deliver oil to the internal market, the Beluga Bay-Varandei pipeline would be connected with the Baltic pipeline system while the ore would be delivered to the metal factories of the Northwest and other regions by train. Railway carriages would be delivered from the Beluga Bay to Murmansk on ferryboats. The delivery of supplies could be carried out in the same manner.
        The construction of a multipurpose, well mechanized port in the Beluga Bay which is in the epicenter of freight traffic, and the gradual construction and activation of port facilities will enable, in comparison with other suggested projects, to considerably cut down transportation expenses and to speed up the return of capital investment. This will also create favorable conditions for further investment in the development of large deposits, guaranteeing a considerable income for Russia's economy, good conditions for the industrial development of the northwest and new freight traffic in the northern and Arctic ports.