WASHINGTON: Port Bronka, the new deepwater port in St. Petersburg, was opened by mid of December 2015. Regular services started by January 2016. Meanwhile, the port offers a wide range of maritime logistics services including container- , RoRo- and general cargo handling and after little more than half a year the operational start-up phase is successfully completed.
Regular container services directly connect Bronka to all main hub ports in North range ports (Hamburg, Rotterdam and Antwerp). Moreover, the Baltic Levant Express service by shipping line CMA CGM offers direct links to Mediterranean Sea ports. The company FENIX LLC, owner and operator of Port Bronka, has signed more than 500 contracts with hinterland clients, including importers, exporters, trucking companies, freight forwarders, et cetera. Currently, up to three container block trains per day (export and import) arrive at the port, which shows the good acceptance of the port already in the early stage despite actually difficult market environment conditions.
On the Ro-Ro side shipping line Finnlines calls the terminal on a weekly basis and adds truck, Mafi, new car and passenger traffic to the terminal. From the very beginning, the general cargo handling developed above expectations. In this respect, the clients benefit from the 302 ton lifting capacity of the new Liebherr mobile harbour crane (LHM 800). Port Bronka regularly enjoys high and heavy cargoes above 150 tons per package.
Latest in August 2016, new car handling was successfully established at the terminal. During the start-up phase of Port Bronka numerous modern technical features have been taken in operations. A specially designed pre-gate service area, twin lift operations, digital signature, EDI services and container weighing according to SOLAS regulations are only few examples for the most modern sea terminal facility in the Russian Federation.
“During transformation of Port Bronka from a construction site to a fully operational terminal it was our first priority to establish a stable organization and a full range of reliable services. In the start-up phase this was much more important than too fast volume growth”, Alexey Shukletsov, executive director of the Port Bronka stated satisfied with the port’s development after the first months. “We are happy that our clients benefit from our favourable location, superior infrastructure and high productivity from the early beginning of terminal operations”, added Stefan Wilkens, general manager for the container terminal.
