Seaport in Vyborg: yesterday, today and tomorrow

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

From the point of view of historical age, the Vyborg port would win the dispute with the port in Arkhangelsk. He is fifty-seven years older than his northern neighbor. But the oldest port in Russia is the Arkhangelsk shipyard. The thing is that Vyborg was then Viyborg, and the port was Swedish.

Swedish history

In the 16th century, the title of a slipway town had to be earned. It gave the right not only to receive foreign ships, but also to trade through their own merchants. Vyborg received this title in 1527.

Vyborg port had an excellent location - in the middle of the main B altic trade route. The Swedes, Danes, and Dutch made Vyborg the main place for buying and selling, and for merchants from Veliky Novgorod, the port became a real logistics hub - the main transit transshipment point.

By the end of the 19th century, the Vyborg Seaport became not only a major trading center, but also had at its disposal an excellent fleet of 126 ships. In addition to cargo, port ships were also engaged in passenger transportation. In terms of area, it was one of the largestEuropean ports, it was divided into external and internal, and the internal port - into North and South.

Today's port status

It was the South Port that eventually turned into the "Port of Vyborgsky", whose geographical location cannot be called successful. It is located right in the center of the city and, what's more, "propped up" by the local shipyard.

The port industry, in its specialization, belongs to the universal ones, which accept and process a wide variety of cargoes: bulk, bulk, bulk, food, chemical, etc.

The port is very long, its length is about one and a half kilometers along the coast of the bay. It consists of thirteen berths, and only one is for passenger ships. The rest work exclusively with cargo.

Port features

In the activities of ports, there are professional criteria and technical characteristics necessary for representatives of the fleets. For example, the Vyborg port can provide closed and open storage of cargo, transshipment services, freight forwarding escort of cargo, ship agency and many other services.

Navigation in Vyborg is year-round, but in winter time the help of an icebreaker is needed. The circle of countries whose ships often use the services of the port in Vyborg is the following: Germany, Finland, Sweden, Belgium, Denmark and Norway.

In the Soviet period, the company worked with a crazy load: ships were unloaded and loaded around the clock in three shifts,the total weight of transshipped cargo reached three million tons per year. Port life was in full swing. But then it all ended.

Bunch of port troubles

After the collapse of the USSR during the period of privatization, the Vyborg port everything turned out in the most unfortunate way. The following factors "invested" in economic troubles:

1. Deteriorated equipment and outdated infrastructure.
2. Shallow ship draft and short approach routes.
3. Localization in the city center without any possibility of expansion.
4. Frequent change of ownership and managerial incompetence.

The profitability of the port limped on both legs: six berths were simply closed due to extreme wear and tear. Even in albums of city photos, the Vyborg port is almost not present: it looks unpresentable from all sides, what can I say…

Despite the new proud name of Port Vyborgsky LLC, it has become a poor relative of the neighboring port of Vysotsky. The fact is especially offensive, because the port of Vysotsky was not even considered a port before, but was just an auxiliary port port. Its transformation can be described in textbooks on operational management: Vysotsk made a bet on coal and won. Now it is one of the most powerful coal terminals in the B altic.

Vyborg cannot allow coal into the port - it is located in the very center of the city. Therefore, the cargo nomenclature of the enterprise does not change: mineral fertilizers, aluminum, cement, timber, metals.

Prospects of the Vyborg port:management case

In training centers for top managers, they like to hold various kinds of competitions with the solution of complex multi-level management tasks taken from real life. The future strategy of the port in Vyborg could be an excellent case for some all-Russian competition involving bright minds to find an effective port strategy.

There is a dilemma:

1. Engage in the modernization and conversion of cargo berths, which will require huge investments. Narrow the profile of the cargo port to transship containers and vehicles, for example.
2. Collapse the cargo component of the port, demolish cargo berths and concentrate on the tourist component in the form of a modern powerful berth for passenger liners and ferries.

There are many serious factors to consider. For example, the unfortunate draft of ships, which is extremely low in the Vyborg port - only six and a half meters. And the length of ships to enter the port should not exceed 140 meters. If we continue to deal with maritime cargoes, the depth of the fairway should be increased by at least a meter - up to a depth of seven and a half meters.

One way or another, the prospects of the port are connected with the repair and modernization of berths, where one of the immediate main tasks will be to deepen the fairway to be able to receive large vessels. Everything will depend on the decisions of the owners and state courts. The port of Vyborg deserves serious attention and effective solutions.