KRASNOYARSK, May 8. /TASS/. The Yenisei River Shipping Company prepares a convoy, which will open the summer navigation in mid-May. The company told TASS on Wednesday it planned to transport bigger amounts of cargo, and the vessels would be equipped with special systems to cut fuel consumption.
The navigation’s start
A convoy along the Yenisei’s main tributary - the Podkamennaya Tunguska - will open the upcoming navigation. The company’s 23 tugs, six bulk carriers, five tankers and 30 barges will head for the river’s mouth. Weather specialists forecast the Podkamennaya Tunguska’s ice will break up on May 10.
"Next week, the fleet is to enter the river," the company said.
The high water season on the Podkamennaya Tunguska is only about two weeks. Within this time, the vessels must bring all necessary supplies to villages along the river. Besides, the Podkamennaya Tunguska’s rapids and meandering bed require high skills from the navigators.
The Yenisei River Shipping Company plans to deliver more than 40,000 tonnes of cargo to villages along the Yenisei’s tributary - concrete products, cement, and metal, containers with food, machinery, and fuel. This is the only option those cargos may be delivered to the hard-to-reach villages.
Cargo deliveries
The Yenisei River Shipping Company’s representative Rashid Khakimullin told TASS the company "plans to deliver within the coming navigation about 3.5 million tonnes, while last year it delivered 3,344,000 tonnes."
The company will serve 1.65 million tonnes of cargo (about 47%) in the interest of the Norilsk Nickel Mining and Metallurgical Company, he added.
TASS wrote earlier that the Segezha Group’s Lesosibirsk Plant wanted to use the Northern Sea Route to ship in 2019 about 60,000 cubic meters of lumber to Egypt. The shipping company’s vessels will transport the cargo, the representative said.
Problems and investments
As of now, the shipping company monitors water levels, especially in the Angara (the Yenisei’s tributary), as shallow waters may cut the navigation term.
"Last autumn, due to shallow waters in the Angara, we had to finish early the navigation along that tributary," the shipping company told TASS.
The regional transport authority told TASS another problem could be limited visibility from continuing wildfires in the region. This problem is not new for the company. All vessels have modern navigation equipment and electronic maps which show all objects moving along the river.
The Yenisei River Shipping Company has invested 360 million rubles ($5.53 million) in preparations for the navigation. Most money has been used to upgrade 430 vessels, the company’s press service said. Besides, the company continues an investment project to install automatic systems, which monitor fuel consumption. "We plan to use these systems on our fleet’s 80 vessels," the press service said.
The Yenisei River Shipping Company is the biggest cargo transporter along water routes in the Yenisei River basin. The company has the biggest in the region fleet of dry-cargo and tanker vessels. It owns more than 600 vessels. Nornickel is the company’s main shareholder.