Volgotanker
Encyclopedia
Volgotanker is a Russian company engaged in the business of transporting oil and oil products by tanker ship along the inland waterways and coastal seas of European Russia. It is headquartered in Samara
.
oil fields, from the Caspian
port of Astrakhan
to Russia's industrial centers along the Volga
and Kama
. The service turned out to be highly important during the Second World War, when most of the railway lines connecting the Caucasus with Central Russia were cut by enemy action in 1942. Fifty-nine of the company's barge
s were sunk or damaged during the war, primarily by Luftwaffe
's bombs and mines
, with the loss of 123 sailors.
Soon after the war, the company also started transporting oil from Russia's so-called "Second Baku" - the oil fields in Bashkiria and eastern Tatarstan
. As oil refineries were built along the Volga and its tributaries (e.g. at Ufa
, Kstovo
, and Syzran
), their products, too, were taken to the markets throughout Russia by Volgotanker. The Volga-Baltic Waterway
and Volga-Don Canal
made it possible to deliver oil and oil products to Soviet ports on the Baltic
, Azov
and Black Sea
s as well. As of 1965, the company transported 3 million metric tons of oil and oil products per year.
That year, Volgotanker boats also started transporting oil directly to Finnish
ports.
When in August 1970, Volgotanker's Nefterudovoz-3 arrived to Kandalaksha
, it was the first tanker ever to bring a cargo of oil directly from the Volga basin over the White Sea-Baltic Canal
and into the White Sea
.
By 1984, shipping volumes reached 35 million tons per year.
Besides its traditional Baltic and Black Sea export directions, in the 2003 Volgotanker resumed using the White Sea-Baltic Canal
. The plan was to transport 800,000 tons of fuel oil this way, for transfer to Latvia
n seagoing tankers at a floating transfer station near the Osinki Island in the Onega Bay
, 36 km north-east of the port of Onega. The next year plans were for 1,500,000 tons.
Transfer operations started on June 24, 2003. Unfortunately, already on September 1 a collision between Volgotanker's Nefterudovoz-57M and Latvian Zoja-I during such a transfer caused an oil spill
. Various estimates of the extent of the spill have been made, the final one being 45 tons, of which only 9 tons have been collected. Local fishery authorities reported that some 74 km of the coast were contaminated by oil, at least 300 seabirds and a number of seals died. As a result, fines were paid by Volgotanker to the city of Onega, the transfer operations closed down by the Arkhangelsk Oblast
authorities after only 220,000 tons have been exported, and the company did not get a permit for similar operations in the following year.
Yukos
was Volgotanker's largest customer as well as a major shareholder. As Yukos
started having problems with the government in the mid-2000s, it was replaced with Rosneft
as the main customer.
In 2004, Volgotanker itself has been charged with tax evasion. After a few rocky years, the company was eventually placed into bankruptcy in 2007, and sales of assets were impending as of the summer 2007. On November 11, 2007, one of their boats, Volgoneft-139, broke apart in the Kerch Strait, spilling at least 1,300 tons of fuel oil
into the sea.
On March 4, 2008, the company was declared bankrupt by a Russian court.
. It owned 353 vessels with the total carrying capacity of over
1.2 million tons, as follows:
Most boats have a name consisting of the word Volgoneft and a number, e.g. Volgoneft-139.
Samara, Russia
Samara , is the sixth largest city in Russia. It is situated in the southeastern part of European Russia at the confluence of the Volga and Samara Rivers. Samara is the administrative center of Samara Oblast. Population: . The metropolitan area of Samara-Tolyatti-Syzran within Samara Oblast...
.
History
Soviet period
The history of Volgotanker goes back to the Oil Fleet Agency, part of the Volga State Shipping Company, which was established in 1923. In 1938, the agency was spun off into a separate state-owned company, called Volgatanker. Its mandate was to ship crude oil and oil products, primarily coming from the BakuBaku
Baku , sometimes spelled as Baki or Bakou, is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. It is located on the southern shore of the Absheron Peninsula, which projects into the Caspian Sea. The city consists of two principal...
oil fields, from the Caspian
Caspian Sea
The Caspian Sea is the largest enclosed body of water on Earth by area, variously classed as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. The sea has a surface area of and a volume of...
port of Astrakhan
Astrakhan
Astrakhan is a major city in southern European Russia and the administrative center of Astrakhan Oblast. The city lies on the left bank of the Volga River, close to where it discharges into the Caspian Sea at an altitude of below the sea level. Population:...
to Russia's industrial centers along the Volga
Volga River
The Volga is the largest river in Europe in terms of length, discharge, and watershed. It flows through central Russia, and is widely viewed as the national river of Russia. Out of the twenty largest cities of Russia, eleven, including the capital Moscow, are situated in the Volga's drainage...
and Kama
Kama River
Kama is a major river in Russia, the longest left tributary of the Volga and the largest one in discharge; in fact, it is larger than the Volga before junction....
. The service turned out to be highly important during the Second World War, when most of the railway lines connecting the Caucasus with Central Russia were cut by enemy action in 1942. Fifty-nine of the company's barge
Barge
A barge is a flat-bottomed boat, built mainly for river and canal transport of heavy goods. Some barges are not self-propelled and need to be towed by tugboats or pushed by towboats...
s were sunk or damaged during the war, primarily by Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....
's bombs and mines
Naval mine
A naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to destroy surface ships or submarines. Unlike depth charges, mines are deposited and left to wait until they are triggered by the approach of, or contact with, an enemy vessel...
, with the loss of 123 sailors.
Soon after the war, the company also started transporting oil from Russia's so-called "Second Baku" - the oil fields in Bashkiria and eastern Tatarstan
Tatarstan
The Republic of Tatarstan is a federal subject of Russia located in the Volga Federal District. Its capital is the city of Kazan, which is one of Russia's largest and most prosperous cities. The republic borders with Kirov, Ulyanovsk, Samara, and Orenburg Oblasts, and with the Mari El, Udmurt,...
. As oil refineries were built along the Volga and its tributaries (e.g. at Ufa
Ufa
-Demographics:Nationally, dominated by Russian , Bashkirs and Tatars . In addition, numerous are Ukrainians , Chuvash , Mari , Belarusians , Mordovians , Armenian , Germans , Jews , Azeris .-Government and administration:Local...
, Kstovo
Kstovo
Kstovo is a town and the administrative center of Kstovsky District of Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, Russia, located on the right bank of the Volga River, southeast of Nizhny Novgorod. Population: -History:...
, and Syzran
Syzran
Syzran is the third largest city in Samara Oblast, Russia, located on the right bank of Saratov Reservoir of the Volga River. Population: It was founded in 1683 as a fortress, and was granted town status in 1796. One tower from the 17th-century fortress still stands...
), their products, too, were taken to the markets throughout Russia by Volgotanker. The Volga-Baltic Waterway
Volga-Baltic Waterway
The Volga–Baltic Waterway, formerly known as the Mariinsk Canal System , is a series of canals and rivers in Russia which link the Volga River with the Baltic Sea...
and Volga-Don Canal
Volga-Don Canal
Lenin Volga–Don Shipping Canal is a canal which connects the Volga River and the Don River at their closest points. The length of the waterway is 101 km ....
made it possible to deliver oil and oil products to Soviet ports on the Baltic
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
, Azov
Sea of Azov
The Sea of Azov , known in Classical Antiquity as Lake Maeotis, is a sea on the south of Eastern Europe. It is linked by the narrow Strait of Kerch to the Black Sea to the south and is bounded on the north by Ukraine mainland, on the east by Russia, and on the west by the Ukraine's Crimean...
and Black Sea
Black Sea
The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...
s as well. As of 1965, the company transported 3 million metric tons of oil and oil products per year.
That year, Volgotanker boats also started transporting oil directly to Finnish
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
ports.
When in August 1970, Volgotanker's Nefterudovoz-3 arrived to Kandalaksha
Kandalaksha
Kandalaksha is a town in Kandalakshsky District of Murmansk Oblast, Russia, located at the head of Kandalaksha Gulf on the White Sea, beyond the Arctic Circle. Population: 40,564 ; -History:The settlement has existed since the 11th century...
, it was the first tanker ever to bring a cargo of oil directly from the Volga basin over the White Sea-Baltic Canal
White Sea-Baltic Canal
The White Sea – Baltic Sea Canal , often abbreviated to White Sea Canal is a ship canal in Russia opened on 2 August 1933. It connects the White Sea with Lake Onega, which is further connected to the Baltic Sea. Until 1961, its original name was the Stalin White Sea – Baltic Sea Canal...
and into the White Sea
White Sea
The White Sea is a southern inlet of the Barents Sea located on the northwest coast of Russia. It is surrounded by Karelia to the west, the Kola Peninsula to the north, and the Kanin Peninsula to the northeast. The whole of the White Sea is under Russian sovereignty and considered to be part of...
.
By 1984, shipping volumes reached 35 million tons per year.
Post-Soviet
Since the late 1980s, the operations entered a decline along with much of the Soviet economy. In 1992, the company was privatized as a Joint-Stock Company (a corporation). With the decline of domestic operations, transportation of oil for export became the main line of business for the company, reaching 70% of its operations by 1993. It was not until the early 21st century that the volume of operations started to rise again.Besides its traditional Baltic and Black Sea export directions, in the 2003 Volgotanker resumed using the White Sea-Baltic Canal
White Sea-Baltic Canal
The White Sea – Baltic Sea Canal , often abbreviated to White Sea Canal is a ship canal in Russia opened on 2 August 1933. It connects the White Sea with Lake Onega, which is further connected to the Baltic Sea. Until 1961, its original name was the Stalin White Sea – Baltic Sea Canal...
. The plan was to transport 800,000 tons of fuel oil this way, for transfer to Latvia
Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
n seagoing tankers at a floating transfer station near the Osinki Island in the Onega Bay
Onega Bay
The Onega Bay is located in [the Republic of Karelia and Arkhangelsk Oblast in Northwestern Russia, west of the city of Arkhangelsk. It is the southernmost of four large bays and gulfs of the White Sea, the others being the Dvina Bay, the Mezen Bay, and the Kandalaksha Gulf. The area of the bay is...
, 36 km north-east of the port of Onega. The next year plans were for 1,500,000 tons.
Transfer operations started on June 24, 2003. Unfortunately, already on September 1 a collision between Volgotanker's Nefterudovoz-57M and Latvian Zoja-I during such a transfer caused an oil spill
Oil spill
An oil spill is the release of a liquid petroleum hydrocarbon into the environment, especially marine areas, due to human activity, and is a form of pollution. The term is mostly used to describe marine oil spills, where oil is released into the ocean or coastal waters...
. Various estimates of the extent of the spill have been made, the final one being 45 tons, of which only 9 tons have been collected. Local fishery authorities reported that some 74 km of the coast were contaminated by oil, at least 300 seabirds and a number of seals died. As a result, fines were paid by Volgotanker to the city of Onega, the transfer operations closed down by the Arkhangelsk Oblast
Arkhangelsk Oblast
Arkhangelsk Oblast is a federal subject of Russia . It includes the Arctic archipelagos of Franz Josef Land and Novaya Zemlya, as well as the Solovetsky Islands in the White Sea....
authorities after only 220,000 tons have been exported, and the company did not get a permit for similar operations in the following year.
Yukos
YUKOS
OJSC "Yukos Oil Company" was a petroleum company in Russia which, until 2003, was controlled by Russian oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky and a number of other prominent Russian businessmen. After Yukos was bankrupted, Khodorkovsky was convicted and sent to prison.Yukos headquarters was located in...
was Volgotanker's largest customer as well as a major shareholder. As Yukos
YUKOS
OJSC "Yukos Oil Company" was a petroleum company in Russia which, until 2003, was controlled by Russian oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky and a number of other prominent Russian businessmen. After Yukos was bankrupted, Khodorkovsky was convicted and sent to prison.Yukos headquarters was located in...
started having problems with the government in the mid-2000s, it was replaced with Rosneft
Rosneft
Rosneft is an integrated oil company majority owned by the Government of Russia. Rosneft is headquartered in Moscow’s Balchug district near the Kremlin, across the Moskva river...
as the main customer.
In 2004, Volgotanker itself has been charged with tax evasion. After a few rocky years, the company was eventually placed into bankruptcy in 2007, and sales of assets were impending as of the summer 2007. On November 11, 2007, one of their boats, Volgoneft-139, broke apart in the Kerch Strait, spilling at least 1,300 tons of fuel oil
Fuel oil
Fuel oil is a fraction obtained from petroleum distillation, either as a distillate or a residue. Broadly speaking, fuel oil is any liquid petroleum product that is burned in a furnace or boiler for the generation of heat or used in an engine for the generation of power, except oils having a flash...
into the sea.
On March 4, 2008, the company was declared bankrupt by a Russian court.
The fleet
As of the mid 2000s, the company controlled 70% of liquid cargo transportation market in the basin of Volga and Kama, and carried about 10% of the total Russian exports of fuel oilFuel oil
Fuel oil is a fraction obtained from petroleum distillation, either as a distillate or a residue. Broadly speaking, fuel oil is any liquid petroleum product that is burned in a furnace or boiler for the generation of heat or used in an engine for the generation of power, except oils having a flash...
. It owned 353 vessels with the total carrying capacity of over
1.2 million tons, as follows:
- 204 tankers and ore-bulk-oil carrierOre-bulk-oil carrierAn Ore-bulk-oil carrier, also known as combination carrier or OBO, is a ship designed to be capable of carrying wet or dry cargoes. The idea is to reduce the number of empty voyages, in which large ships only carry a cargo one way and return empty for another. These are a feature of the larger...
s with capacities ranging from 300 to 10,000 tons; - 95 bargeBargeA barge is a flat-bottomed boat, built mainly for river and canal transport of heavy goods. Some barges are not self-propelled and need to be towed by tugboats or pushed by towboats...
s with a capacity ranging from 1,000 to 9,000 tons; - 54 tugboatTugboatA tugboat is a boat that maneuvers vessels by pushing or towing them. Tugs move vessels that either should not move themselves, such as ships in a crowded harbor or a narrow canal,or those that cannot move by themselves, such as barges, disabled ships, or oil platforms. Tugboats are powerful for...
s.
Most boats have a name consisting of the word Volgoneft and a number, e.g. Volgoneft-139.
External links
- Volgotanker Official Site (in English and Russian) This website is no longer active.