Party for the port amid dwindling trade
As it celebrates its 100-years anniversary, the Murmansk Sea Port struggles with its lowest goods turnover in more than 10 years.
A cornerstone company in the history of Murmansk, the local sea port this weekend celebrated its 100 years of operations with rock concerts on the local town square followed by grand fireworks.
However, as thousands of locals enjoyed the show, there seems to be less joy to find in the port accounts books.
Figures from the local Murmansk Statistical Service (Murmanskstat) indicate that regional ports are in a period of serious decline. In the first seven months of 2015, the ports had a drop in their goods turnover of almost 20 percent. That follows a downturn of as much as 40 percent in 2014 compared with 2013.
As illustrated by Patchwork Barents, the regional database, the Murmansk sea ports in 2014 handled 22,7 million tons of goods, compared with 34,3 million tons in 2013.
If the negative trend continues, year 2015 will be the weakest in terms of goods volumes for the Murmansk port in more than 12 year.
The Murmansk Commercial Sea Port is the by far biggest port in the region. Coal accounts for a lion’s share of the goods current activities. According to the company website, the port in July set a new monthly coal record as 19,000 train wagons with a total volume of 1,28 million tons of coal was handled.
