MOSCOW: Russian FSI Azov Sea Port Authority said that Port of Kavkaz saw bunker sales rose 330 percent to 55,500 tons in 2015 as compared to 2014, while cargo also rose 550 percent to 2.5 million tones.
The Port of Kavkaz said growth was largely because of increased cargo sent to Crimea.
“The growth should be attributed to the increased supplies of cargo to the Crimean Republic, said Port of Kavkaz Harbour Master Evgeny Tuzinkevich.
“Besides, favorable weather conditions allowed for off-harbour transshipment.”
Even as imports and exports declined over 300 percent compared to 2014 numbers, transshipment of coastal trade cargo reportedly skyrocketed to 12.6 million tons from 12,000 tones the year before.
It was reported early this year that Russian shippers and ports were bracing for weak freight traffic given low oil prices, which has led the country to pare down on imports.