Murmansk commercial seaport

Murmansk commercial seaport is the second largest port in Northwest Russia in terms of cargo turnover (after St. Petersburg). The port has 13 berths able to accept ships with maximum 15.5 meters (50 feet) draft and 265 meters (848 feet) length. The Murmansk port is the only one in Northwest Russia that can serve ships with carrying capacity of up to 80,000 tons (PANAMAX type vessels). The port has a special terminal for reloading of apathite ore with annual throughput capacity of four million tons. In 2003, Agroshpera, which runs the terminal, has reloaded one million tons of fertilizers produced by Evrokhim holding in Kirovsk. The main cargo shipped through Murmansk commercial port is currently coal from Kuzbass. The port processed nine million tons of cargo in 2003, exceeding the 2002 level by 25%. In 2004, the port already reloaded six million tons in the first half of the year. However, increasing of the port’s turnover is limited not only by the number of berths, but also by the fact that the railroad to the port has a dead end 20 kilometers from the port, and many spans to Murmansk are one way. This means that throughput of the port is limited by the current capacity of the railroad link between Murmansk and other parts of Russia. Murmansk shipping company is the leading enterprise serving the Northern Sea Route, which is the shortest sea link between Europe and South-East Asia. The round-year navigation is supported by the nuclear-powered icebreakers.