St. Petersburg was founded as a port city, which gave the Russian Empire access to European open spaces. Thanks to maritime traffic, 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 vessels of various types.
general characteristics
In the north-west of Russia, the Big Sea Port of St. Petersburg is the most important commercial and passenger transport hub. It is located on the Neva Bay, which crashes into land in the eastern part of the Gulf of Finland, belonging to the Baltic Sea. The port territory consists of numerous islands formed by the Neva River Delta.
The port operates year-round. Around November to April, the sea surface is covered with ice. So that the ships have access to the berths, they are helped in the cold by service icebreakers, paving the way to land.
By its structure, the “Big Port of St. Petersburg” consists of moorings of various smaller ports: forest, commercial, passenger, fish and river. It also includes several shipbuilding and repair plants, an oil terminal, berths of Lomonosov and Kronstadt, port points Bronka and Gorskaya.
Thus, we can safely say that the Big Port of St. Petersburg has a rather complicated structure. Its scheme includes many canals and piers for various purposes.
Fairway system and their feature
In total, the length of the Big Port berths is more than 9 km. They are led by long and not very canals, laid for access by ships of various sizes. The longest - to the pier of Kronstadt, located behind the island of Kotlin. The channel options are simply impressive. Its length exceeds 27 miles. The depth allows you to receive ships with a draft of 11 m. In this case, the ship itself can be up to 260 m long and about 40 m wide.
Vessels of much larger dimensions take the Big Port of St. Petersburg in a completely different way. The seaport, for example, is operated by oil trawlers on an external roadstead. They do not need to go far deep into the mainland.
But in general, the port consists of about 60 berths. Various channels up to 12 m deep lead to them. Their length varies depending on the size of the vessels received and the purpose of their arrival at the ports of St. Petersburg.
First port area
For the convenience of maintenance and management of all facilities, the administration of the Big Port of St. Petersburg divided it into several areas. Each of them is served by its own freight company. In addition, the berths of these areas are significantly different in their purpose, which makes it possible to systematize ships and provide them with the most adequate services.
The first district consists of fourteen berths. From the first to the seventh, cargo ships are accepted that transport goods in containers. Loading and unloading operations are carried out using 23 port cranes. Their maximum load capacity is 40 tons.
Here you can leave the goods for storage in open or closed warehouses, the total area of which exceeds 125,000 sq.m. The area is served by JSC Second Stevedoring Company.
The remaining seven berths are intended for research and expeditionary ships. Port fleet vessels are also located here.
Second port area
Each outside observer is fascinated by the Big Port of St. Petersburg. Photos reflect all its grandeur and scale. Especially often, the second port area, which receives ships of the passenger navy, gets into the lens.
This area consists of moorings 15-41 with a total length of about 3 km. Ship berths are accepted with a draft not exceeding 11 m. The cargo division specializes in bulk products, such as grain, fertilizers, cereals, sugar.
There are special facilities for processing mineral fertilizers without containers. The district processes up to one hundred wagons per day, and up to twelve thousand tons of bulk cargo can be stored in a warehouse.
All berths, except the 27th, are serviced by First Stevedoring Company CJSC. The twenty-seventh berth is patronized by Baltic Fleet LLC.
For the summer navigation period 32-34, the berths are being rebuilt to receive large cruise ships that carry out ocean voyages.
Third port area
Coal and forest harbors constitute the third area of the port. It consists of thirteen berths that specialize in containers, transshipment of timber and ferrous metal.
Since the ships for such cargo are quite large, then, accordingly, the specifics of their reception must be observed, which is monitored by the Big Port of St. Petersburg. The Lotsiya in this area is organized in such a way that on moorings 82-87 there is an opportunity 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 CJSC “First Container Terminal”.
Moorings 67-70 are equipped for the reception and transshipment of roundwood. The terminal capacity is up to 1 million tons of cargo per year. Forest transshipment is carried out by Stevedore Forest Company CJSC.
Fourth Shopping District
Turukhtanny Islands, located in Coal Harbor, became the location of the fourth district. Bulk and bulk cargo are handled here. To perform these functions, most berths 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, and scrap metal. To quickly load and unload them all, equipment has been installed here that serves cars and ships. Its efficiency is up to 5 million tons per year.
This area is serviced by several companies. Some of them have only 1-2 berths in their subordination, while others help with loading operations in almost half of the port.
Oil Reception Terminal
As mentioned earlier, the Big Port of St. Petersburg accepts large trawlers on an external roadstead in the oil terminal. It is located in close proximity to 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, tanks in the terminal can receive up to 42 thousand cubic meters of light oil products and up to 132 thousand cubic meters of dark. Due to such capacities, 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 the nearest oil 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 ZAO Petersburg Oil Terminal. Railway communication with the continent is carried out using the Avtovo station on the October Railway.
The oil terminal is an important center providing trade in oil refined products with most of the European countries. On land, such efficiency is almost impossible to achieve.
Forest and fishing ports
As it became clear, the captain of the Big Port of St. Petersburg manages a rather complex system of smaller ports and moorings. Therefore, each of them has its own leadership and freight companies.
There are also very specific points of cargo reception, for example, a forest port. Its functioning is complicated by the fact that the wood and its products require special loading and storage conditions. Therefore, the fleet of loading equipment here is designed specifically for it.
At the berths, both stationary portal and bridge cranes, as well as mobile loaders of finished products work. At the same time, their load capacity ranges from 5 to 104 tons.
Closed-type warehouses with a total area of about 70 thousand square meters are equipped to store delicate products. Open areas for forests are more than 364 thousand square meters. Among them there is enough space for storing containers of various types.
The fishing port is also specific in its functionality. It works with perishable goods, and this leaves its mark on its 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
Today, the Big Port of St. Petersburg is simply amazing in its scope 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 the development of the port is growing every year.
For this reason, his administration always monitors the possibility of increasing the capacity of services, and plans always include the opening of new berths, warehouses, deepening channels. All this allows the "Big Port" to remain modern and able to meet the needs of the Russian Federation in sea freight.