Press-release: Passenger Port of St. Petersburg Starts Navigation 2019
25 April 2019
On April 28, the Passenger Port of St. Petersburg opens the summer passenger navigation 2019 with the call of the Poesia cruise ship belonging to MSC, an Italian cruise company. The vessel was built at Aker Yards, a French shipyard, in 2008. The passenger capacity of the vessel is 3,223 people and 1,039 crew members. At the grand opening, the role of the MSC Poesia’s godmother was performed by the famous actress Sophie Lauren, who traditionally names all MSC vessels.
In 2019, 10 vessels will enter the Passenger Port of St. Petersburg for the first time, including two new vessels in May: Viking Jupiter of Viking Ocean Cruises and Nieuw Statendam of Holland America Line. In June, it is planned to call a large vessel named Explorer of the Seas of Royal Caribbean International, an American cruise company, with a passenger capacity of 3,840 people.
The vessel was built in Turku, Finland, its length is 311 meters.
In comparison with the results of passenger navigation 2018, this year’s navigation is expected to bring another record number of passengers. Based on the already formed schedule of ship calls for 2019, the growth of passenger traffic to 625,110 passengers is projected, which is 1,944 people more than in 2018. At the same time, the number of vessel calls will slightly decrease - from 270 in 2018 to 262 in 2019, which is explained by the global trends of increasing the vessel dimensions.
The number of days of the so-called maximum load, when from 5 to 6 ships are simultaneously moored at the port, will be 28 days.
As part of the contract work carried out on the eve of opening navigation 2019, over145 contracts were signed in respect of the facility’s principal activities, including 7 new ones. At the moment, the Port has over 35 contracts with ferry and cruise lines, the largest of which, in terms of ship calls, are such world brands as: Carnival Corporation – 43%, Royal Caribbean & Celebrity Cruises – 16%, Mediterranean Shipping Company and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings – 11% and 9%, respectively.
As a reminder, St. Petersburg is the most popular tourist destination among all the cities of the Baltic Sea. Experts in the field of tourism have repeatedly noted the attractiveness of our city, as well as its rich cultural heritage. This year, St. Petersburg was for the fourth time declared the winner in the nomination of the top-rated destinations for Baltic & Scandinavia according to Cruise Critic, the largest portal of cruise industry. At the World Travel Awards 2018, St. Petersburg became the leader in two categories:
the Best European Cruise Destination and the Best Cultural and Tourist Destination in Europe.
One of the key principles of the Port’s operation is the careful observance of the environmental legislation, timely identification of significant environmental aspects, risk assessment in the strategic planning of the Port’s development. These principles of operation were marked in 2019 by the Association of Sea Trade Ports with the Best Environmental Enterprise award. Compliance with all the requirements of the environmental legislation is confirmed by the absence of any remarks regarding environmental protection in the inspections carried out by Rosprirodnadzor and Rospotrebnadzor for the last 10 years. From 2015 to 2018, large-scale landscaping works were carried out in the Passenger Port of St. Petersburg.
The results of the last year’s hard work were appreciated by the expert community of the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation represented by the Federal Water Resources Agency: PP SPb MF, PLC was recognized the “Idustry Leader” in the Maritime Stevedoring Company nomination.
Safety
In preparation for navigation 2019, all the necessary engineering and maintenance works were carried out in the Passenger Port of St. Petersburg to ensure safe and comfortable reception and handling of vessels and passengers.
Of all the activities of PP SPb MF, PLC, the priority is to ensure the safety of all persons in the territory of the Passenger Port of St. Petersburg. In accordance with Federal Law No. 16-FZ dated 09.02.2007 “On Transport Security”, the Passenger Port of St. Petersburg is the 1st category transport infrastructure facility, to which the increased requirements for transport security and anti-terrorist protection apply. Compliance with these requirements at the marine terminal was repeatedly checked during the scheduled and unscheduled inspections carried out during the year, both by internal commissions and commissions of state control and supervisory authorities. Currently, there are no factors affecting the safety of passengers and guests of the port, as well as the anti-terrorist protection of the marine terminal.
In preparation for navigation 2019, the following activities were carried out to ensure the transport security of the facility:
- modernization of video surveillance systems;
- additional advanced training programmes and certification of employees performing work directly related to the transport security of the marine terminal;
- amendments have been made to the local regulations governing the issues of transport security, taking into account the activities carried out;
- transport infrastructure is protected from illegal intervention by the transport security division engaged on the basis of a signed contract through the procedure approved by the Federal Agency of Marine and River Transport accredited for these purposes;
- work is conducted on certification of technical means ensuring transport security of the sea terminal.
The measures taken are necessary and sufficient to ensure the safety of the facility and passengers arriving on cruise ships during navigation of 2019.
It should be noted that the infrastructure of the Passenger Port meets all international standards, as well as the requirements of the Russian legislation in the field of transport security and is fully ready for the beginning of navigation in 2019.
Within the framework of fire safety of the port, the following activities have been carried out:
- in March 2019, in order to maintain the current level of professional competency of personnel necessary for successful evacuation and fire prevention, fire evacuation exercises were conducted.
- in order to protect employees, individual respiratory means of protection from toxic combustion products have been purchased.
Timeslots
Taking into account the growth of ship sizes and the number of passengers, as well as the excess of the maximum capacity, in 2017, the port conducted an experiment to regulate the entry of vehicles of tour operators with the participation of representatives of state executive authorities, state control bodies, the North-Western regional branch of the Russian Union of Tourism Industry.
According to the results of the experiment, it was decided to amend the existing Rules for the Provision of Services for the Use of Transport Infrastructure of the Passenger Port of St. Petersburg. The main change in 2018 was the introduction of a new passenger and transport handling procedure (the so-called timeslot system) during peak days. In the new 2019 season, last year’s passenger and transport handling procedure (timeslot system) will also continue to apply, but with a few changes. The main innovation is that the timeslot system in the organization of passenger handling will this year apply to all vessel calls during the first day of stay of vessels in the Passenger Port of St. Petersburg. This system benefited the last year’s navigation, which was noted by the management of cruise lines, CLIA, St. Petersburg state executive authorities, and, of course, tour operators.
Market position
The Passenger Port of St. Petersburg has taken a leading position in the regional market of services for the reception of cruise ships, and tax payments to the budget are estimated at tens of millions of rubles. In addition, our city is visited by more than half a million tourists a year through the port, and such tourists also indirectly provide revenues to the budget of St. Petersburg through tax deductions from tour operators, various shops, restaurants and other entrepreneurs. In addition, every year, following the results of work, PP SPb MF, PLC pays dividends to the budget of St. Petersburg.
Development projects
PP SPb MF, PLC is currently implementing the following infrastructure projects:
- Reconstruction of the marine permanent multilateral Russian Federation State border checkpoint at the seaport Passenger port of Saint Petersburg.
This year, the active implementation phase includes a project for reconstruction of the marine permanent multilateral Russian Federation State border checkpoint, which will lead to the creation of conditions for the regular passenger ferry services in the Passenger Port of St. Petersburg.
In order to implement this project and develop transport communication, as well as the tourist market of marine travel between St. Petersburg and the ports of the Baltic Sea, PP SPb MF, PLC, on February 21, 2019 a contract for a grant of 2 million 560 thousand euros was signed with the Managing Body of the South-East Finland – Russia Cross Border Cooperation Programme 2014 – 2020. The expected project implementation term is 2020.
- Construction of a sports and recreational facility
Coming August, the sports and recreational facility (SRF) will start receiving guests, offering them indoor and outdoor playing fields, a gym, convenient locker rooms, with one of the fields constructed in such a way that it allows to create an artificial ice cover.
- Berth No. 7 reconstruction
Simultaneously with the SRF opening, the completion of the berth No. 7 reconstruction project first stage is scheduled for the third quarter. The first part of the project will result in increasing the existing berth length by 41.6 m, which will make total of 416.6 m. With the completion of the second part of the project, the length of berth No. 7 will be 483.6 m. The total length of the berth front (771.6 m) will provide for the simultaneous safe berthing of two cruise ships over 330 metres long. The project is expected to be completed by February 2021.
Also, this year PP SPb MF, PLC accepted another terminal for management, namely Marine Station with 5 berths, located in the Morskoy Slavy Square. At the moment, the issue of the Marine Station property reconstruction is being considered. Navigation at the Marine Station under the management of PP SPb MF, PLC, opened March 23 with this year’s first entry of Princess Anastasia ferry owned by MOBY SPL.
Taking into account the international practice, the city authorities are considering the possibility of creating a single cruise-ferry operator of sea terminals in St. Petersburg on the basis of PP SPb MF, PLC. The first step to implementing the project was the transfer of the Marine Station property to PP SPb MF, PLC for trust management. The decision was made jointly with the Transport Committee at the Maritime Council under the Government of St. Petersburg on 19.09.2017. The Marine Station infrastructure (1 multipurpose cruise-ferry terminal and 5 berths) will significantly improve the ability of PP SPb MF, PLC to coordinate the berthing of cruise and ferry ships. In the future, it is planned to transfer landing stages on the Lieutenant Schmidt Embankment and the English Embankment to PP SPb MF, PLC for management; a draft road map has already been prepared. The establishment of a single cruise-ferry operator of sea terminals will allow more flexible approach to the scheduling of ship calls, increase the facility operation efficiency by decreasing overhead costs, improve the quality of service for passengers of ships in St. Petersburg, as well as open up new opportunities for the development of the industry in the region as a whole.
It’s worth noting, that apart from its principal activity, PP SPb MF, PLC is involved in the arrangement of numerous educational, social and sports projects. In 2019, as in previous years, the Passenger Port of St. Petersburg territory will once again become the venue for the traditional Sea Mile sports event, which has been included into the list of public events of the city since the last year. From 10 to 14 July 2019, PP SPb MF, PLC will offer its Marine Station berths and infrastructure within the framework of the Ninth International Naval Salon. During the New Year holidays, it is planned to organize the traditional largest ice rink in the city.
The passenger navigation in the Passenger Port of St. Petersburg is to be closed on October 20, 2019 with the ship call of AIDAaura cruise liner of AIDA Cruises, a German company.
