From gCaptain, July 24:
This week Russian President Vladimir Putin met with the country’s shipbuilding executives to review plans to prioritize short sea shipping with the hope of bypassing the Suez Canal.
“We are focusing on the South-North corridor, primarily moving cargo via the Caspian Sea,” said Alexei Rakhmanov, Chief Executive of United Shipbuilding, Russia’s largest shipbuilding company. “This year, we are starting to design a containership that will ply the Caspian Sea with Helsinki as its final destination. In this way, we will be opening up routes that do not depend on foreigners.”
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According to the Kremlin, by building smaller vessels capable of short sea shipping, it’s possible to load cargo in northern Iran or western China and take it to Helsinki via the Russian Port of Olya on the Caspian Sea. They believe this route will take only seven or eight days to reach Helsinki from Olya at an average speed of 10 knots.
“We are zealously working on many new products,” said Rakhmanov. “In the case of civilian shipbuilding, I am referring to the opening of basically new segments, including small boats, which few businesses have dealt with systematically, and solutions for Russian cities.”
“The main question is the cost of this shipment. We are working on it jointly with shipping companies.” Putin was told the route north will include navigating the Volga River, then the Volga-Baltic Waterway, and the Moscow Canal to St Petersburg. Vessels could go as far as the White Sea, but the scale would be a bit smaller there, with smaller cargos....
....MUCH MORE
