Work on St. Petersburg’s deep-sea port gets start date

In September, dockside construction will begin on a new deep-sea port with a capacity of 1.45 million 20-foot-equivalent units, amid sanctions and a collapse in the price of oil that have pulled down St. Petersburg’s container volume.

The decision to begin construction may seem odd given the current trends in container volumes, particularly at St. Petersburg, which saw the largest decline in container volume of all Russian ports in the first four months of 2015. On a year-over-year basis, St. Petersburg, Russia’s largest container gateway, recorded a 28.8 percent drop in traffic for the first four months of 2015, handling only 431,000 TEUs.

However, the port had been in the works for years before the current economic chill cooled the Russian economy. The new deepwater facility, Port Bronka, separate from the existing port in St. Petersburg, will handle both container and roll-on, roll-off cargo.

The quay length for container ships will be 1,358 feet, allowing for five berths. The container terminal will be 264 acres and have space enough grow from its original capacity.

The ro-ro facility will be 141 acres, host three berths at a quay of 2,066 feet and have a capacity of 260,000 units.

The port will have a depth of 47.2 feet, allowing it to accommodate post-Panamax vessels.

Although in wintry St. Petersburg, the facility will be an all year port because of recent investments made in ice breaking ships and a canal connecting it to the sea.