Astrakhan Branch News

Director of the Astrakhan Branch takes part in the meeting of the Council for Maritime Activities under the Governor of the Astrakhan Region

On April 28, 2021, director of the Astrakhan branch of FSUE “Rosmorport” Aleksey Svyatsky took part in the meeting of the Council for Maritime Activities under the Governor of the Astrakhan Region. The meeting chaired by the Governor of the Astrakhan Region Igor Babushkin was attended by the head of Rosmorrechflot Andrey Lavrishchev, the head of FSBI "Caspian Sea Seaport Administration" Magomed Abdulatipov, the Minister of Industry and Natural Resources of the Astrakhan Region Denis Afanasyev, representatives of other organizations and interested bodies – members of the council.

During the meeting of the council, the issue regarding dredging works in the Volgo-Caspian Marine Shipping Canal was considered.

Director of the Astrakhan Branch Alelsey Svyatsky said that in 2021 it is planned to carry out repair dredging in the amount of 3.7 million m3 in order to provide navigation depths of 4.9 meters in the river part of the canal and 5.1 meters in the sea part of the canal:
- in the river part: by self-propelled bilge dredgers Urengoy and Ivan Cheremisinov in the amount of 100 thousand m3;
- in the sea part of the Volgo-Caspian Marine Shipping Canal:
a) by pipeline dredgers Artemy Volynsky and Petr Sablin in the area of ​125-155 km of the VCMSC in the amount of 2.6 million m3;
b) by multi-pack dredger North-West 503 in the area of ​155-160 km of the VCMSC in the amount of 500 thousand m3.
c) by self-propelled bilge dredgers Ivan Cheremisinov and Urengoy in the 160-168 km section of the VCMSC in the amount of 500 thousand m3.

The Astrakhan Branch has installed and commissioned automated level posts which allow to receive accurate information regarding water fluctuations on the Volgo-Caspian Marine Shipping Canal in real time.

Preparations are under way for the implementation of the design solutions "VCSSC Protective Structures" aimed at reduction of the sediment accumulation of the canal, control the water flow and placement the extracted soil in order to prevent its secondary ingress into the canal.

Governor of the Astrakhan Region Igor Babushkin emphasized the importance of maintaining the navigation depths of the Volgo-Caspian Marine Shipping Canal to ensure safe navigation in the seaports of Astrakhan and Olya in view of the fact that this water artery is a strategically important infrastructure object of the Russian economy for one of the directions of the North-South international transport corridor and the Astrakhan water transportation hub. The stably functioning canal creates conditions for development of the Caspian resource base, expansion of Astrakhan port capacities and development of the seaport of Olya.