Novorossiysk Sea Port (russian: Новороссийский морской порт, NSP) is one of the largest

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...

s in the

Black Sea basin The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Roma ...

and the largest in

Krasnodar Krai Krasnodar Krai (russian: Краснода́рский край, r=Krasnodarsky kray, p=krəsnɐˈdarskʲɪj kraj) is a federal subject of Russia (a krai), located in the North Caucasus region in Southern Russia and administratively a part of t ...

. At 8.3 km, the NSP berthing line is the longest among all the ports of Russia. The port is located on the Northeast coast of the Black Sea, in the Tsemes Bay (also called Novorossiysk Bay). The bay is ice-free and open for navigation all year round. However, in winter the navigation occasionally stops due to the hazardous northeastern

bora wind The bora is a northerly to north-easterly katabatic wind in areas near the Adriatic Sea. Similar nomenclature is used for north-eastern winds in other littoral areas of eastern Mediterranean and Black Sea basins. Name It is known in Greek as (' ...

. The Tsemes Bay allows deep-draft vessels up to 19 m DWT, the inner harbour — up to 12.5 m. The liquid bulk terminals depth range from 8.4 to 15.6 m, suitable for

tankers Tanker may refer to: Transportation * Tanker, a tank crewman (US) * Tanker (ship), a ship designed to carry bulk liquids ** Chemical tanker, a type of tanker designed to transport chemicals in bulk ** Oil tanker, also known as a petroleum tanke ...

with a deadweight of up to 250,000 tons.

Description

The Port of Novorossiysk is located at the crossroads of major international transport corridors between

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

and the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...

, the

Near East The ''Near East''; he, המזרח הקרוב; arc, ܕܢܚܐ ܩܪܒ; fa, خاور نزدیک, Xāvar-e nazdik; tr, Yakın Doğu is a geographical term which roughly encompasses a transcontinental region in Western Asia, that was once the hist ...

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

Southern Asia Southern Asia may refer to: * South Asia, a geopolitical macroregion of SAARC countries * Southern Asia, a geographical subregion in Asia spanning the Iranian Plateau and the Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a list of the phy ...

Southeastern Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainland ...

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...

and

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

. NSP is the final destination for several international highways, such as the

Trans-Siberian Railway The Trans-Siberian Railway (TSR; , , ) connects European Russia to the Russian Far East. Spanning a length of over , it is the longest railway line in the world. It runs from the city of Moscow in the west to the city of Vladivostok in the ea ...

TRACECA TRACECA (acronym: Transport Corridor Europe-Caucasus-Asia) is an international transport programme involving the European Union and 12 member states of the Eastern European, Caucasus and Central Asian region.TEU containers. The Port of Novorossiysk mainly handles grain, coal, mineral fertilizers, timber, oil and oil products, containerized, food, and general cargo. In 2014 the total turnover amounted to 121.59 million tons, including 720,000 TEU, the largest value for the Black Sea basin and the second-highest in Russia. Total berth length in NSP equals 8.3 km. The territory is separated into several areas: three cargo terminals (East, West, and Central), a passenger area and the Sheskharis oil harbour.

History

Russian Empire

Novorossiysk and the Port in the middle of the 19th century

The

Adrianople Edirne (, ), formerly known as Adrianople or Hadrianopolis (Greek: Άδριανούπολις), is a city in Turkey, in the northwestern part of the province of Edirne in Eastern Thrace. Situated from the Greek and from the Bulgarian borders, ...

Treaty of 1829 concluded the Russo-Turkish War of 1828–29 between

and

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

, transferring the Sujuk Bay and the rest of the Black Sea coast under Russian domain. To defend these newly acquired territories the government fortified the coastline with numerous forts and strongholds. Among them was the fortress in Sujuk, founded on 12 September 1838. On 14 January 1839, it received the name

Novorossiysk Novorossiysk ( rus, Новоросси́йск, p=nəvərɐˈsʲijsk; ady, ЦIэмэз, translit=Chəməz, p=t͡sʼɜmɜz) is a city in Krasnodar Krai, Russia. It is one of the largest ports on the Black Sea. It is one of the few cities hono ...

(a derivative of recently acquired territories) by a special order of state

Minister of War A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...

. Later,

Nicholas I of Russia Nicholas I , group=pron ( – ) was List of Russian rulers, Emperor of Russia, Congress Poland, King of Congress Poland and Grand Duke of Finland. He was the third son of Paul I of Russia, Paul I and younger brother of his predecessor, Alexander I ...

issued a decree, assigning the name ‘Novorossiyskaya’, or ‘Tsemesskaya’, to the bay (after its

tributary A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drainage ...

). Another royal decree (signed on 30 June 1845) initiated the construction of a new trade port. In 1846 the Novorossiysk fortress became a town. In 1846 the port handled 109 foreign (mainly Turkish) vessels with various cargo — leather, cotton threads, tobacco, crockery, fruit, vegetables, and sugar. Russian vessels delivered construction supplies, salt, and wine. Rye, wheat, butter,

salo Salo or Salò may refer to: Places Finland *Salo, Finland, a town in Western Finland **Salo sub-region, a subdivision of Finland Proper and one of the Sub-regions of Finland since 2009 *An old name of Saloinen, a former municipality in Ostroboth ...

, honey, and highland merchandise were exported. First warehouses were built from local worked stone. Loading/unloading were performed on a

roadstead A roadstead (or ''roads'' – the earlier form) is a body of water sheltered from rip currents, spring tides, or ocean swell where ships can lie reasonably safely at anchor without dragging or snatching.United States Army technical manual, TM 5- ...

— launches and

felucca A felucca ( ar, فلوكة, falawaka, possibly originally from Greek , ) is a traditional wooden sailing boat used in the eastern Mediterranean—including around Malta and Tunisia—in Egypt and Sudan (particularly along the Nile and in protect ...

s were used for on-water freight, while horse-drawn carriages served for inland transportation. At that time, Novorossiysk was separated from Krasnodar Krai and other rich provinces, thus it was excluded from major trade on the Russian market. During the

Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the de ...

the town was destroyed.

Late 19th to early 20th centuries

In 1872 Alexander II issued a royal decree, appointing a committee to research and locate proper sites for new sea ports at the Black Sea coast. In 1874 the committee reported that because of the strong bora winds the Tsemes Bay could serve as the main port, thus it was advised to be used for the construction of a

cabotage Cabotage () is the transport of goods or passengers between two places in the same country. It originally applied to shipping along coastal routes, port to port, but now applies to aviation, railways, and road transport as well. Cabotage rights ar ...

port. Several alternative projects were offered but never implemented. The proximity of

Vladikavkaz Railway North Caucasus Railway ( rus, Северо-Кавказская железная дорога) is a broad gauge Russian railway network that links the Sea of Azov (in the west) and Caspian Sea (in the east). It runs through ten federal subjec ...

played a decisive role in site choice, it was planned to connect the bay with the inland transport chains via future

Tikhoretsk Tikhoretsk (russian: Тихоре́цк) is a town in Krasnodar Krai, Russia. It is the administrative center of the Tikhoretsky urban settlement and the Tikhoretsky District of the Krasnodar Territory. Population: 57,098 (2020), Administrative ...

— Novorossiysk conjunction. The Imperial Ministry of Railways offered several projects of the future port to the

State Council State Council may refer to: Government * State Council of the Republic of Korea, the national cabinet of South Korea, headed by the President * State Council of the People's Republic of China, the national cabinet and chief administrative auth ...

. The approved project's construction required 3.5 mln

roubles The ruble (American English) or rouble (Commonwealth English) (; rus, рубль, p=rublʲ) is the currency unit of Belarus and Russia. Historically, it was the currency of the Russian Empire and of the Soviet Union. , currencies named ''rub ...

, while the planned cargo turnover was estimated at 30 mln

pood ''Pood'' ( rus, пуд, r=pud, p=put, plural: or ) is a unit of mass equal to 40 ''funt'' (, Russian pound). Since 1899 it is set to approximately 16.38 kilograms (36.11 pounds). It was used in Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine. ''Pood'' was first ...

s. The construction site located at the North-West part of the Tsemes Bay, less imposed to strong winds. The project included building miscellaneous facilities — a breakwater with a light-house at the South-West side, wharfs, utility railroads, bridges, paved roads, 2 track cranes, lighting and water supply. The infrastructure for personnel included a canteen, a kitchen, hospitals, workshops, and barracks. In 1866 the plan, overall budget and working conditions were approved by the Special Committee on Commercial Ports. On 8 August 1888, the first vessel sailed off to the new port — a French ‘Mingreli’, loaded with grain. A short time before the railroad conjunction between the port and Novorossiysk had been put into operation. By 1895 new berths (East, West and several state-owned) were opened, one of them was soon taken on lease by ‘Chernomorsky Cement’ company. The enterprise entered the cement market with raw materials from recently discovered Novorossiysk

marl Marl is an earthy material rich in carbonate minerals, clays, and silt. When hardened into rock, this becomes marlstone. It is formed in marine or freshwater environments, often through the activities of algae. Marl makes up the lower part o ...

pits. In general, private capital played a major part in Novorossiysk Port development. For instance, Vladikavkaz Railway Society investments reached 15 mln roubles, twice more than the total value of all Novorossiysk industrial objects.

USSR

In the

Russian Civil War , date = October Revolution, 7 November 1917 – Yakut revolt, 16 June 1923{{Efn, The main phase ended on 25 October 1922. Revolt against the Bolsheviks continued Basmachi movement, in Central Asia and Tungus Republic, the Far East th ...

NSP was severely damaged in fights between the

Red Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondar ...

and the

Volunteer Army The Volunteer Army (russian: Добровольческая армия, translit=Dobrovolcheskaya armiya, abbreviated to russian: Добрармия, translit=Dobrarmiya) was a White Army active in South Russia during the Russian Civil War from ...

. Later, under Bolshevik control the port was nationalized. In 1921—1922 it made a significant impact on food supplies to the victims of severe famine in

Volga Region The Volga Region (russian: Поволжье, ''Povolzhye'', literally: "along the Volga") is a historical region in Russia that encompasses the drainage basin of the Volga River, the longest river in Europe, in central and southern European Russ ...

. That contribution was honoured with an

Order of the Red Banner of Labour The Order of the Red Banner of Labour (russian: Орден Трудового Красного Знамени, translit=Orden Trudovogo Krasnogo Znameni) was an order of the Soviet Union established to honour great deeds and services to th ...

. Later, NSP was awarded the same order for raising the wreck of ‘Elbrus’ oil-carrier, sank in the years of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. The infrastructure and total cargo turnover recovered gradually. While in 1920 the turnover was only 16 mln thousand tons, by 1923 it grew to 1.2 mln. By 1926 all the berths were reconstructed and put into operation, including a newly built coal pier (later named ‘Importniy’). In 1926-30 the Port of Novorossiysk doubled the pre-war grain shipment amount, then during the Second Five-year Plan it doubled the total turnover. Some wooden berths were replaced with reinforced concrete, a new harbor basin was constructed for cabotage fleet, an embankment and an ice-box were added. By 1940 NSP had become one of the leading ports in South

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

. It comprised 4 loading areas, import and cement docks, a cabotage area and the West Embankment (106.5 ha). There were 41 operating berths with a total length of 4.69 km, the staff rose to 2076 port workers (including 509 lumpers). In 1940, the NSP handled 416 vessels and processed 1554 thousand tons of cargo. Upon the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

the port served for evacuation, shipped ammunition and weapons to the battle front line. The bravery and courage of the port workers were acknowledged and honoured with state medals. By 1943 only one berth of all NSP facilities remained intact. The

State Defense Committee The State Defense Committee (russian: Государственный комитет обороны - ГКО, translit=Gosudarstvennyĭ komitet oborony - GKO) was an extraordinary organ of state power in the USSR during the German-Soviet War (Grea ...

ordered the reconstruction to begin, as soon as 1 October 1944, NSP was officially reopened. However, the complete reconstruction was finished only in 1950. By the middle of the 1960s new facilities were added — ‘Shirokiy’ dock, ‘Sheskharis’ oil terminal, a passenger harbor station, workshops, and even a Sailors' Palace.

Infrastructure

Vessel Traffic Management

Safe navigation in the waters of NSP is supported by Vessel Traffic Service (VTS) solution by Rosmorport. The local system includes VTS Centre and four remotely controlled radio technical posts (RTP) — ‘Doob’, ‘Penay’, ‘Gelendzhik’, and ‘Youzhnaya Ozereevka’. Doob RTP is installed in the proximity of Doob Lighthouse 95 m above sea level, it serves for detection and observation of approaching vessels and backs up Penay RTP. The latter is located at the front Penay range marker 35 m above sea level, providing direct visual of Novorossiysk bay. Penay RTP backs up Doob RTP performance for distance range. In its turn, Gelendzhik RTP stands at the South-East slope of the Doob mountain 301 m above sea level. It serves for distance range observation of vessel approach and backs up Youzhnaya Ozereevka RTP. Youzhnaya Ozereevka secures observation of the

Caspian Pipeline Consortium The Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) is a consortium and an oil pipeline to transport Caspian oil from Tengiz field to the Novorossiysk-2 Marine Terminal, an export terminal at the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiysk. It is one of the world's ...

in operational responsibility area and its approaches. The mentioned RTPs detect vessels at a range up to 15–20 miles, determine coordinates, velocity, and direction. In case of possible emergency all obtained data is sent to the Central VST operator and other vessels within range. All vessels are obliged to enter and move in NSP water area only under Novorossiysk VTS permission.

Major Facilities

Novorossiysk Timber Port

Before the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and ad ...

no Russian Black Sea ports had specialized timber handling terminals. However, NSP historically processed various timber cargo flows to the

. In 1929—31 the very first terminal for timber export was put into operation at the port of Novorossiysk, comprising warehouses, log yards, and special berths. As soon as in 1940—41 the company was shut along with a complete cease of foreign trade via NSP. By 1945 a new timber yard was opened at the Port of Novorossiysk. The state company, managed by Glavsnables ( General Directorate for Wood and Timber Supply), handled hardwood timber deliveries from

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

. By 1956 the yard was reorganized into Novorossiysk timber port under the management of USSR Ministry for Paper and Timber Industries. USSR Ministry of Forest Economy granted 8 mln roubles on expansion and development of the timber harbour. It was targeted on trade with

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

and

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

ern countries with an estimated export volume of 250 thousand m³ and 100 thousand m³ import. In the following years, the terminal capacity grew rapidly. In 1958 the Timber Port of Novorossiysk total turnover reached 415 thousand m³, by 10 years it boosted up to 1700 (including 850 thousand m³ of timber cargo). By 1980 the Timber Port covered 56.8 ha and became an enterprise of federal importance. It was equipped with 30 various cranes (portal, frame, tower, railway, etc.), the timber terminal had 2 separate lines for lumber drying and bundling, grading and sorting machines, and a whole fleet of machinery (52 electric and truck loaders, 33 lumber trucks, 9 transporter trains, etc.). In 1992 NSP went public and was renamed into Novoroslesexport, later privatized. Then it began operating as a diverse harbour, handling various cargo. The first container terminal was launched in 1999. In 2006 Novoroslesexport was acquired by the NMTP Group.

Novorossiysk Shipyard

According to an order of Sovnarkom, the first major shipyard was launched at the Port of Novorossiysk in the Spring of 1918. All the facilities, previously engaged in berths and equipment maintenance (plus locomotive shed and railway slip at the Eastern slope of the Tsemes Bay), were merged into united port workshops. In the 1920s these workshops were expanded and upgraded to dockage facilities, by August 1941 growing into a shipyard. Upon the outbreak of the World War II two floating drydocks were transferred from

Odesa Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrative ...

, NSP workers engaged in military fleet maintenance and arming civilian vessels, while the factory refocused on defense items. The advance of German troops forced the evacuation, part of the NSP equipment was transferred to southern ports, some relocated into tunnels of cement factories. When the main part of the town was captured by enemy troops, some workers joined the partisans, others were evacuated. The NSP factory was destroyed during the fights, the reconstruction started only in September 1943, when the town was liberated. By January 1944 new railway slip was built, in April of the same year the 4000-ton floating drydock was raised and reconstructed. Since then the factory actively engaged in the restoration of NSP and Soviet Navy fleet. The enterprise reached full capacity by 1948. Further expansion and modernisation of Novorossiysk Shipyard started in the 1950s when the enterprise got new foundry, mechanical, and galvanizing workshops. In 1965 the factory opened a 27000-ton floating drydock. By the 1980s new facilities for heavy cargo vessels extended total shipyard area from 16.6 up to 25 ha. In 1985 Novorossiysk Shipyard launched the largest drydock of 60,000 tons capacity, enabling the facility to serve all civil and military vessels of the Russian fleet. Upon the

dissolution of the Soviet Union The dissolution of the Soviet Union, also negatively connoted as rus, Разва́л Сове́тского Сою́за, r=Razvál Sovétskogo Soyúza, ''Ruining of the Soviet Union''. was the process of internal disintegration within the Sov ...

number of orders on ship repair significantly reduced, therefore the enterprise refocused on processing metal cargo, then switched to lumber and rolling cargo. In 2006 the shipyard joined NMTP Group. By 2013 the facility almost ceased its primary service as vessel repair centre.

Oil Infrastructure

Nobel brothers The Petroleum Production Company Nobel Brothers, Limited, or Branobel (short for братьев Нобель "brat'yev Nobel" — "Nobel Brothers" in Russian), was an oil company set up by Ludvig Nobel and Baron Peter von Bilderling. It operated ...

and the

Rothschilds The Rothschild family ( , ) is a wealthy Ashkenazi Jewish family originally from Frankfurt that rose to prominence with Mayer Amschel Rothschild (1744–1812), a court factor to the German Landgraves of Hesse-Kassel in the Free City of F ...

launched oil transfer at the Port of Novorossiysk. The Nobels managed numerous facilities at NSP, such as oil storages, a 95-meter long pipeline, a discharge jetty for tank cars, pumps, and a berth handling vessels of deadweight up to 1.5 tons. One of the Nobel's riveted tanks was operational and used at NSP up to 1988. The Rothschilds owned Caspian-Black Sea Oil Company, that co-founded Nouvelle Societe du Standard Russe Grozny (in Russia known as Russian Standard) with

Royal Dutch Shell Shell plc is a British multinational oil and gas company headquartered in London, England. Shell is a public limited company with a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and secondary listings on Euronext Amsterdam and the New Yo ...

. In 1882 Russian Standard opened the first oil refinery plant in Russia, three years later adding a 70-meter pipeline from Ilsky production fields. Russian Standard covered an area to the East from the Vladikavkaz Railway and constructed a 150-meter dock for oil and oil-related products. In 1918, after the nationalisation of oil enterprises, oil export became a valuable source of foreign exchange revenue for the USSR. In the 1920s and 1930s it was consistently high, but during the Second World War all the facilities were destroyed. The possibility of oil freight in Novorossiysk was reconsidered only in the 1950s.

‘Sheskharis’

New transshipment terminal construction was initiated in 1960 based on resolutions of the Council of Ministers of USSR (and later

RSFSR The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...

) as a part of oil industry development program, personally supervised by

Nikita Khrushchev Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (– 11 September 1971) was the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and chairman of the country's Council of Ministers from 1958 to 1964. During his rule, Khrushchev s ...

. The construction site was set near Sheskharis Cape at the Tsemes Bay coast, ranging from 100 m to 40 m above sea level. Upon completion total amount of tank fields reached 99,000 m3. The terminal received a breakwater with estimated wave load of 6.5 m and a ballast water discharge pipeline, strengthened with front and rear bank protection. The first vessel to be handled at berth №4 of Sheskharis oil terminal became ‘Lihoslavl’ tanker en route to

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, processed on 19 October 1964. At the same time a new tank field of 200 thousand m3 capacity was launched in Grushevaya Balka area and connected to Sheckharis via 3000-meter tunnel through the

Markotkh The Markotkh is a low 90 km-long mountain range in the extreme northwest of the Greater Caucasus that, running parallel to the Black Sea coastline, encircles the Tsemes Bay and the Gelendzhik Bay. Its ''Markotkh'' name translates from the Ad ...

ridge. The slope tilt allowed the flow of oil and oil derivatives move down, passing through quality and quantity control points. The united complex of Sheskharis and Grushevaya Balka oil terminals became the largest in Europe and the most efficient in USSR. In 1966 and 1976 BW treatment systems were put into operation, in 1978 the complex received a new pipeline for direct oil transportation from field tanks to vessels. In the same year a deepwater berth was constructed, lateran automatic filling system was introduced. By 1966 Sheskharis annual cargo turnover reached 50 mln tons and the range of destinations expanded to 23 countries. In 2002—2003 total volume of Grushevaya tank fields reached 1.2 mln m3. In 2012 Sheckharis and Grushevaya merged into united enterprise ‘Sheskharis oil terminal’. By 2012 Sheskharis oil terminal accounted for more than 30% of Russian oil export. The terminal has 3 docks of 200 meters total length. Berth №1 is the deepest, it can handle vessels with deadweight up to 250,000 tons and 19-meters draft, it transfers only oil cargo with 10,000 tons per hour capacity. Berth №2 is 14.5 meters deep, it can take vessels up to 90,000 deadweight and 13.9 m draft, its capacity range from 90 up to 6,000 tons per hour. Berth №3 accepts ships up to 33,000 DWT, draft alongside is 10.9 m, it processes mainly

naphtha Naphtha ( or ) is a flammable liquid hydrocarbon mixture. Mixtures labelled ''naphtha'' have been produced from natural gas condensates, petroleum distillates, and the distillation of coal tar and peat. In different industries and regions ''n ...

residue and

diesel Diesel may refer to: * Diesel engine, an internal combustion engine where ignition is caused by compression * Diesel fuel, a liquid fuel used in diesel engines * Diesel locomotive, a railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engin ...

(800—900) tons per hour. Berth №4 serves bunkering vessels up to 3.6 DWT. Berths №5 and №8 transfer oil derivatives and accept tankers up to 12,000 tons DWT. Berths №6 and №7 are able to take tankers up to 65,000 tons DWT, draft alongside is 13 m. Sheskharis oil terminal can simultaneously process 7 tankers.

Grain Handling Facilities

Railroad and NSP facilitated grain export, opening transportation from

Don Don, don or DON and variants may refer to: Places *County Donegal, Ireland, Chapman code DON *Don (river), a river in European Russia *Don River (disambiguation), several other rivers with the name *Don, Benin, a town in Benin *Don, Dang, a vill ...

Volga region The Volga Region (russian: Поволжье, ''Povolzhye'', literally: "along the Volga") is a historical region in Russia that encompasses the drainage basin of the Volga River, the longest river in Europe, in central and southern European Russ ...

and

Stavropol Stavropol (; rus, Ставрополь, p=ˈstavrəpəlʲ) is a city and the administrative centre of Stavropol Krai, Russia. As of the 2021 Census, its population was 547,820, making it one of Russia's fastest growing cities. It was known as ...

. To strengthen the monopoly in grain export Vladikavkaz Railway Company established a new enterprise — Novorossiysk Commercial Agency, purposed to manage storage, vessels loading/unloading. More than 20 wooden, stone and iron siloses were constructed for grain storage. At that time all handling processes like loading and drying were performed manually, requiring almost 1000 workers. To reduce workforce the agency decided to build a grain elevator. The project was designed by

Stanisław Kierbedź Stanisław Kierbedź (russian: link=no, Станислав Валерианович Кербедз, lt, link=no, Stanislovas Kerbedis 1810–1899) was a Polish railway engineer. He designed and supervised the construction of dozens of bridges, rai ...

and led by an engineer A. N. Shesnesevich. The elevator comprised two side siloses, each including 364 grain bins for 47,000 tons of grain, and 14-stores high towers. In addition, the first in the world three-phase power plant was constructed nearby. The works started in 1891 and were finished in 1893, a year later the elevator was put into operation. Electrification and automatization allowed to reduce staff down to 60 operators. The expenses reached 2,418,517 roubles. The elevator was the most modern of its time and best equipped in the world, in capacity it yielded only to the one in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. It survived all wars of the 20th century and was closed only in 1972. The reconstruction started in 2017—18, the edifice is planned to be turned into a modern exhibition complex.

Port Management

The port is managed by FGBI ‘Administration of Black Sea Seaports’ (ABS), that was established by an order of the Russian Ministry for Transport following Federal Act № 261. The Administration provides management, equipment and funding support to captains of Russian seaports (

Sochi Sochi ( rus, Со́чи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg) is the largest resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi River, along the Black Sea in Southern Russia, with a population of 466,078 residents, up to 600,000 residents in ...

Tuapse Tuapse (russian: Туапсе́; ady, Тӏуапсэ ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, town in Krasnodar Krai, Russia, situated on the northeast shore of the Black Sea, south of Gelendzhik and north of Sochi. Population: Tuapse i ...

Gelendzhik Gelendzhik (russian: Геленджи́к) is a resort town in Krasnodar Krai, Russia, located on the Gelendzhik Bay of the Black Sea, between Novorossiysk ( to the northwest) and Tuapse ( to the southeast). Greater Gelendzhik sprawls for along t ...

Anapa Anapa (russian: Ана́па, ) is a town in Krasnodar Krai, Russia, located on the northern coast of the Black Sea near the Sea of Azov. Population: History The area around Anapa was settled in antiquity. It was originally a major seaport (Sin ...

Taman Taman may refer to: Places *Taman Peninsula, a peninsula in southern Russia **Taman Bay, an inlet of the Strait of Kerch off the peninsula **Taman, Russia, a rural locality located on the peninsula ** Port of Taman, a seaport on the Peninsula * ...

Kerch Kerch ( uk, Керч; russian: Керчь, ; Old East Slavic: Кърчевъ; Ancient Greek: , ''Pantikápaion''; Medieval Greek: ''Bosporos''; crh, , ; tr, Kerç) is a city of regional significance on the Kerch Peninsula in the east of t ...

Feodosia uk, Феодосія, Теодосія crh, Kefe , official_name = () , settlement_type= , image_skyline = THEODOSIA 01.jpg , imagesize = 250px , image_caption = Genoese fortress of Caffa , image_shield = Fe ...

Yalta Yalta (: Я́лта) is a resort city on the south coast of the Crimean Peninsula surrounded by the Black Sea. It serves as the administrative center of Yalta Municipality, one of the regions within Crimea. Yalta, along with the rest of Crimea ...

Sevastopol Sevastopol (; uk, Севасто́поль, Sevastópolʹ, ; gkm, Σεβαστούπολις, Sevastoúpolis, ; crh, Акъя́р, Aqyár, ), sometimes written Sebastopol, is the largest city in Crimea, and a major port on the Black Sea ...

, and

Yevpatoriya Yevpatoria ( uk, Євпаторія, Yevpatoriia; russian: Евпатория, Yevpatoriya; crh, , , gr, Ευπατορία) is a city of regional significance in Western Crimea, north of Kalamita Bay. Yevpatoria serves as the administrative ...

). As a part of ABS, NSP Port Authorities ensure the respect of legal and regulatory provisions of the commercial maritime law.

Port Operators

According to the Russian Maritime Register of Shipping (RMRS), there are 16 operators in NSP — Caspian Pipeline Consortium, NUTEP, KSK, Novorossiysk Shipyard, FAMART Rescue Service, Novoroslesexport, Novorossiyskiy Grain Terminal, Novorossiysk Grain Plant, Novorossiysk Fuel Oil Terminal (including InmorTerminal LLC), ‘Komandor’, ‘Maritime Engineering’, NNK, IPP, Novorossiysk Industrial Company, ‘April’, SP Artak Vasilyan, and FSUE Rosmorport.

DeloPorts

Delo business group was established in 1993 by

Sergey Shishkarev Sergey Nikolaevich Shishkarev (russian: Серге́й Николаевич Шишкарёв, born on 2 February 1968 in Novorossiysk) is a Russian businessman and political figure. Founder (1993) and President oDelo Group a transport and logisti ...

, son of the port operational manager, it became the first private major stevedore company in NSP. In 2015 DeloGroup structured its Novorossiysk assets into united holding DeloPorts, that comprised NUTEP container terminal, KSK grain terminal and Delo service operator (engaged in bunkering, towing and other services at DeloPorts berths). Previously Delo Group also owned NCC oil terminal, but in 2013 it was sold to

Gazprom PJSC Gazprom ( rus, Газпром, , ɡɐzˈprom) is a Russian majority state-owned multinational energy corporation headquartered in the Lakhta Center in Saint Petersburg. As of 2019, with sales over $120 billion, it was ranked as the larges ...

Marine Bunker. By the first quarter of 2018 NUTEP ranked the second in the Black Sea basin based on total volume of handled cargo. In the meantime, KSK was the third largest grain processing terminal in the same region.

NMTP Group

Novorossiysk Commercial Sea Port (NMTP) was established based on the privatisation of NSP in the early and mid-1990s. Major blocks of shares went to

Uralsib Uralsib (russian: ПАО «Банк Уралсиб») is a Russian commercial bank, headquartered in Moscow. According to Russian Forbes, as of 2022, it was one of the country's largest banks with the net asset value of approximately 530 billio ...

, Sergey Shishkarev's Delo Group and Russian General Bank (co-owned by

Aleksandr Skorobogatko Aleksandr Ivanovich Skorobogatko (russian: Александр Иванович Скоробогатько) (born 15 September 1967) is a Ukrainian-Russian billionaire businessman and former deputy member in the State Duma, having represented the ...

and

Alexander Ponomarenko Alexander Anatolyevich Ponomarenko (Russian: Александр Анатольевич Пономаре́нко) (born 27 October 1964) is a Russian-Cypriot billionaire businessman who made his fortune in banking, sea ports, commercial real esta ...

), a part of NMTP shares remained state property. From 1998 Skorobogatko and Ponomarenko gradually increased their shares in NMTP and other stevedore assets of NSP. In 2006 they bought out shares of Delo Group and Uralsib, consolidating more that 70% of NMTP. In alliance with PJSC ‘Fleet of Novorossiysk Commercial Sea Port’ (towing and bunkering operator), IPP (oil and liquid fertilizers operator), Novoroslesexport (timber and container cargo), Novorossiysk Shipyard (vessel repair services and metal cargo shipment), and Novorossiysk grain terminal (grain cargo), NMTP merged into united holding and became the largest NSP operator. In November 2007 the holding issued public shares on the

London Stock Exchange London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange in the City of London, England, United Kingdom. , the total market value of all companies trading on LSE was £3.9 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Pau ...

. In 2008 a conflict with Transneft over the Sheskharis oil terminal helped Skorobogatko and Ponomarenko engage

Arkady Rotenberg Arkady Romanovich Rotenberg (russian: Аркадий Романович Ротенберг; born 15 December 1951) is a Russian billionaire businessman and oligarch. With his brother Boris Rotenberg, he was co-owner of the Stroygazmontazh ( ...

into NMTP capitals. In 2011 Skorobogatko, Ponomarenko and Rotenberg sold out the blocking share of NMTP stocks to

Transneft Joint Stock Company Transneft (russian: Транснефть) is a state-controlled pipeline transport company headquartered in Moscow, Russia. It is the largest oil pipeline company in the world. Transneft is operating over of trunk pipeline ...

and Summa Group owner

Ziyavudin Magomedov Ziyavudin Gadzhievich Magomedov (russian: link=no, Зиявудин Гаджиевич Магомедов, born 1968) is a Russian billionaire businessman. He is the main owner of the privately-held investment company Summa Group. In March 2018, ...

. In 2013 Summa Group and Transneft disputed and publicly negotiated on a possible split of NMTP. Following the agreement, inland terminals stayed under Summa Group's management, while Transneft got oil terminals. In the Spring of 2018 Ziyavudin Magomedov and his elder brother (former member of the Russian Federation Council) Magomed were arrested on charges of building a criminal organization and fraud. In October 2018 Summa sold out its NMTP shares to Transneft, increasing its stake up to 60.62%. In February 2019 NMTP sold 100% shares of Novorossiysk Grain Terminal to

VTB Bank VTB Bank (; formerly known as ''Vneshtorgbank'', , lit. 'International Trade Bank') is a Russian majority state-owned bank headquartered in various federal districts of Russia; its legal address is registered in Saint Petersburg, St. Peter ...

Demetra holding

After purchasing the Novorossiysk Grain Terminal, VTB began to consolidate its grain assets in Demetra Holding, which is currently the parent company for the Novorossiysk Grain Terminal. In April 2020, VTB engaged to Demetra two minority investors, selling a 25% stake in Demetra Holding to Agronova company and 24.99% stake to the Marathon group. After it, VTB retained control of this company.

CPC

(CPC) accounts for a considerable part of cargo turnover at NSP. CPC operates CTC-R terminal in Yuzhnaya Ozereevka, that is a final destination of pipeline from Tengiz oil field in Western

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

to Novorossiysk. Here oil is loaded into tankers and goes for export to the World markets. CPC was established in July 1992 by the governments of Kazakhstan and

Oman Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of t ...

, later Russia joined the project. The construction started in May 1999, pipe laying was finished in November 2000. Finally, the production run initiated in April 2003 after receiving permission of the authorities. CPC terminal has three

Single-Point Mooring A Single buoy mooring (SrM) (also known as single-point mooring or SPM) is a loading buoy anchored offshore, that serves as a mooring point and interconnect for tankers loading or offloading gas or liquid products. SPMs are the link between ...

systems, allowing safe oil offloading into tankers even in adverse weather conditions. Between January and November 2018 the terminal loaded 55.129 mln tons of oil from Karachaganak, Kashagan and Tengiz fields. By the end of 2018 Russian Federation owned the largest block of terminal shares (24% by Transneft and 7% by CPC Company), followed by Kazakhstan (19% by

KazMunayGas KazMunayGas (KMG) ( kk, QazMúnayGaz, ҚазМұнайГаз) is the state-owned oil and gas company of Kazakhstan.

and 1.75% by Kazakhstan Pipeline Ventures). Among other shareholders Chevron Caspian Pipeline Consortium Company has 15%,

LukArco LukArco B.V. is a subsidiary of the Russian oil company Lukoil. It was formed in February 1997 as a joint venture between Lukoil and the former American oil company ARCO. In 2000, Arco merged with the UK oil company BP, and since BP became a shareh ...

has 12.5%,

Mobil Mobil is a petroleum brand owned and operated by American oil and gas corporation ExxonMobil. The brand was formerly owned and operated by an oil and gas corporation of the same name, which itself merged with Exxon to form ExxonMobil in 1999. ...

Caspian Pipeline Company and

Rosneft PJSC Rosneft Oil Company ( stylized as ROSNEFT) is a Russian Vertical integration, integrated energy company headquartered in Moscow. Rosneft specializes in the exploration, Extraction of petroleum, extraction, production, refining, Petroleum t ...

-Shell Caspian Ventures hold equal blocks of 7.5%, BG Overseas Holding and Eni International hold 2% each. Finally, 1% of CPC terminal shares is owned by Oryx Caspian Pipeline.

Military harbour

Novorossiysk Naval Base was established by the

Bolsheviks The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...

in 1920. During the

its fleet fought the

White Army The White Army (russian: Белая армия, Belaya armiya) or White Guard (russian: Бѣлая гвардія/Белая гвардия, Belaya gvardiya, label=none), also referred to as the Whites or White Guardsmen (russian: Бѣлогв� ...

Crimea Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a pop ...

and

Transcaucasia The South Caucasus, also known as Transcaucasia or the Transcaucasus, is a geographical region on the border of Eastern Europe and Western Asia, straddling the southern Caucasus Mountains. The South Caucasus roughly corresponds to modern Arme ...

. Active development of the base was stimulated by the deterioration of the political environment. In the years of the World War II Novorossiysk served as a stronghold for the occupied

and

, its marines took part in the

Battle of the Kerch Peninsula The Battle of the Kerch Peninsula, which commenced with the Soviet Kerch-Feodosia Landing Operation (russian: Керченско-Феодосийская десантная операция, ''Kerchensko-Feodosiyskaya desantnaya operatsiya'') ...

and ensured the evacuation. After the war Sevastopol became the main base for the Soviet Navy's

Black Sea Fleet Chernomorskiy flot , image = Great emblem of the Black Sea fleet.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Great emblem of the Black Sea fleet , dates = May 13, ...

and Novorossiysk military base was discontinued. The bay was reassigned as an administrative naval area. Later the USSR Ministry of Fisheries anchored there its submarine fleet and survey ships, consecutively the bay was renamed into ‘Geoport’. Within Late Soviet period Black Sea Navy Fleet forces were allocated in the

Georgian SSR The Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic (Georgian SSR; ka, საქართველოს საბჭოთა სოციალისტური რესპუბლიკა, tr; russian: Грузинская Советская Соц� ...

and

Ukrainian SSR The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic ( uk, Украї́нська Радя́нська Соціалісти́чна Респу́бліка, ; russian: Украи́нская Сове́тская Социалисти́ческая Респ ...

with bases in Sevastopol, Odesa,

Batumi Batumi (; ka, ბათუმი ) is the second largest city of Georgia and the capital of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara, located on the coast of the Black Sea in Georgia's southwest. It is situated in a subtropical zone at the foot of th ...

, and

Poti Poti ( ka, ფოთი ; Mingrelian: ფუთი; Laz: ჶაში/Faşi or ფაში/Paşi) is a port city in Georgia, located on the eastern Black Sea coast in the region of Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti in the west of the country. Built near t ...

. The

brought up a question of headquarters relocation to Novorossiysk. In September 1994 Novorossiysk Naval area was reestablished, three years later it was officially reorganised into Novorossiysk Naval Base.

Other Objects

Monuments

In November 1925 one of the first Soviet monuments to

Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 19 ...

was erected at the coastside of Tsemes Bay. The construction was crowdfunded by Black Sea region citizens and NSP employees. Vasily Kozlov designed the sculpture, L. and K. Dietrich and O. Domansky created the pedestal. The bronze figure was cast in

Leningrad Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

and delivered for the

International Workers' Day International Workers' Day, also known as Labour Day in some countries and often referred to as May Day, is a celebration of labourers and the working classes that is promoted by the international labour movement and occurs every year on 1 May, ...

on 1 May 1926. Later, during the war, the monument was mined by retreating German troops. After the liberation of the city the sculpture was repaired, in 1974 it was taken under state protection and granted regional significance status. In 1987—89 the status was upscaled to national significance. The total height of the monument is 6 meters, while only the sculpture is 1.8 m tall. Another monument was opened in September 2018 at the Admiral Serebryakov Embankment. At the initiative of Delo's President Sergei Shishkarev the ‘Memorial to Port Workers’ was financed by Delo Group and NMTP with the participation of several private persons and companies. The opening ceremony coincided with the 180 anniversary of Novorossiysk, 75-th jubilee of liberation of the city and 45th anniversary of receiving title of the

hero city Hero City may refer to: * Hero City (Soviet Union), awarded 1965–1985 to cities now in Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine * Hero City of Ukraine, awarded 2022 * Hero Cities of Yugoslavia, awarded 1970–1975 * Leningrad Hero City Obelisk, a monument ...

. The 2-meter high and 4m tall sculpture designed by Konstantin Kubishkin portrays a tally girl, two dock-engineers and a stevedore at work. Both granite tiles of the pedestal are covered with the text of Nikolas I decree to establish the port in Novorossiysk.

Aleksino Port Marina

Aleksino Port Marina was established on the West coast of the Tsemes Bay and became operational in October 2011. The facility serves and repairs small vessels. The harbor is protected by L-shaped breakwater and equipped with 4 berths of 2—3 depth alongside. Initially the harbor was equipped to handle 35-meters long vessels up to 160 DWT, but in 2017—2018 the marina was modernised and upgraded to serve ships up to 450 DWT. The complex include multiple companies engaged in repairing, painting and other services. By 2017 Aleksino Port Marina was the largest ship-repair complex in Azov-Black Sea Basin. Nowadays it handles private, technical, harbour, and military ( FSB

craft A craft or trade is a pastime or an occupation that requires particular skills and knowledge of skilled work. In a historical sense, particularly the Middle Ages and earlier, the term is usually applied to people occupied in small scale prod ...

s) vessels, regulated by RussianMaritime and

River A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...

Registers. Aleksino Port Marina is a member of DeloPorts holding.

Turnover

Cargo Turnover

References

{{Ports of Russia

Novorossiysk

Description

History

Russian Empire

Novorossiysk and the Port in the middle of the 19th century

Late 19th to early 20th centuries

USSR

Infrastructure

Vessel Traffic Management

Major Facilities

Novorossiysk Timber Port

Novorossiysk Shipyard

Oil Infrastructure

‘Sheskharis’

Grain Handling Facilities

Port Management

Port Operators

DeloPorts

NMTP Group

Demetra holding

CPC

Military harbour

Other Objects

Monuments

Aleksino Port Marina

Turnover

See also

References