Out-of-gauge adventures
26 July, 2013
8
Demand will be existing for ages.
The representatives of the companies specialized in particular in delivery of out-of-gauge cargo were invited for participation in the Round Table: Valentin Bokatyi, the Executive Director of the Company Novorossiysk Port Terminal (Russia), Nikos Marmatsouris, the Chief Marketing Manager of the multinational logistic company GAC (Greece), Aleksandr Varvarenko, the Managing Director of the Company Varamar (Ukraine), Sergey Nazarenko, the Commercial Director of the Company Dealex Transport (Ukraine), Nataliya Myroshnychenko, the associated partner of Interlegal. Janet Plum, the Content Director of the international journal Вгеак Bulk was the head of the table.
The participants gave the positive answer to the question regarding the demand of organization of transporting non-standard cargos in the region. Economy of ex-USSR states has been developing and modernizing. Valentin Bokatyi named the main heavy cargo consumers: oil and gas, metal and energy industries.
Large scale projects has been planning or realizing directly at the Black Sea Cost of Russia with lots of budget money invested therein. One of the most known projects, building the Olympic objects in Sochi, involves other projects including creation of transport infrastructure, energy supply systems etc. Here new ports and terminals that need modern equipment have been developing. In particular, in Tuapse the new units of the oil processing plant Roslneft has been constructing and reconstructing. Two large power stations are planned to be constructed near Novorossiysk.
Alternative energy has got larger demand in Ukraine too. One of the first wind energy projects in our country was launched near Ochakov. The Dealex Company supplied ten wind hydrators (68.6 tons, maximal length nearly 51 m) two years ago. Also the wind power station (general weight of 68.6 tons) was supplied to Tuzla via the Yuzhnyi Port.
Sergey Nazarenko considers that project cargos make up quite a large and prospective transporting sector for the Ukrainian ports. Export makes up the major part of the out-of-gauge cargo. In particular, export of turbines and transformers has been increasing.
Ukraine has to search for alternative energy sources – sun, wind, slate gas, which also expands the demands in non-standard transportations. In order to reduce energy consumption the existing metallurgic plants have been reconstructing. The domestic oil processing industry obtains also new enterprises. For example, one of the latest applications performed by Dеаlех is the supply of equipment for oil extracting plant (80 tons, volume of 1005 cubic meters) being built at the TIS industrial park.
In a nutshell, the demand in out-of-gauge will be growing, as stated by Sergey Nazarenko. But ports, railway, highways are not ready thereto. Such fact as well as difficult relationship with power bodies impedes such transportations.
What dictates logistics?
That is why project cargo logistic routes are sometimes illogical: they follow to the south from the northern ports of Russia or via the neighbouring ports where they are successfully processed: Constanta (Romania), Derince (Turkey), Poti (Georgia).
Aleksandr Varvarenko says that Ukraine is losing the positions it had. Everybody used to work through Ilyichevsk which could handle heavy cargos up to 300 tons. Nowadays forwarders even do not know to which domestic port it is better to carry the cargo. Ports of neighbouring countries are getting more market share of our country which increases the costs upon delivery to the Ukrainian consumers, creates problems for domestic manufacturers. They lose the market position due to impossibility of exporting its cargos.
The Round Table participants have listed the general weak points for Russian and Ukrainian ports. First of all, it is absence of enough number of deep-water ports. They have a high demand and the port manager would certainly prefer the less troublesome bulk cargo in case of choosing between the standard bulk and out-of-gauge cargo.
Aleksandr Varvarenko says that local globalization has also a negative impact. Ports have reduced the number of forwarders employed at port (up to 3-4 companies at large ports). In some ports other companies were refused in access to management.
The further route of the out-of-gauge cargo is too urgent for both countries. For example, the Ilyichevsk Commercial Sea Port has lost its significance mainly as the head port specialized in handling heavy cargos due to limited railway opportunities.
Aleksandr Varvarenko says that Ukraine loses very much its possibilities to take part as carrier in large scale building at the Russian Black Sea Coast due to Ukrzaliznytsya. It obtained among CIS countries the largest number different special platforms designated for transporting non-standard cargos but their use abroad is strictly limited by various bureaucratic procedures.
There was no sense to discuss the quality of roads and bridges which would cope with enormous load of heavy cargo. They have only mentioned that the experts of Ukravtodor which guaranteed the road infrastructure safety in their documents were accused of unawareness of the actual situation.
It is curious that out-of-gauge transportation may cause more demand in inland waterways as the cheapest kind of transportation. For example, the Novorossiysk Port Terminal sent the French equipment to Kaluga via Rostov-upon-Don, by the Don and the Oka – almost non-navigable river. Transportation costs by other transport was compared with transportation of the match folder for one million dollars.
Thinking of responsibility
Multifaceted transportations of the out-of-gauge cargos dictate their own rules for forwarders and carriers: the transportation details shall be foreseen, the level of responsibility of each participant shall be determined with the customer, the costs, terms of delivery shall be arranged and other present conditions shall be discussed. Nataliya Myroshnychenko proposed quick solutions for successful business: legal ways of settling the disputable situations without appeal to the court or arbitration, by the commercial way. The correct notice of denying the carriage contract or the quick claim in response of the counter agent’s actions often may become the first step for the least problematic settlement of dispute for both parties.
If the commercial settlement is impossible the parties shall appeal to the body of settling the dispute stipulated in the contract. Here the issue of correct arbitration clause shall be compulsorily considered, especially taking into account the up-to-date rules of doing business at the transportation ,arket when the countries want to settle the dispute as soon as possible and to compensate their damages.
Nataliya Myroshnychenko emphasized the importance of the issue of the number of arbitrators in settling the dispute and the nomination procedure: the more arbitrators settle the dispute the more expensive is the cost of arbitration proceeding. If the countries cannot arrange the number and nominations of arbitrators for a long time period it delays the settlement of dispute. She proposed her own version of the arbitration clause which can be successfully used in making the carriage contracts.
Neutral tolerance.
Everybody agreed to the fact that transportations of the out-of-gauge cargos are often based on the perhaps principle. Often it shows not the incompetence of forwarders but the need to move from the transport infrastructure being destroyed towards the bureaucracy getting increased and vice versa.
Nikos Marmatsouris stated painfully that they have worked a lot in Kazakhstan, Russia, Ukraine, they have known the situation in the Volga Basin, Caspian and Black Seas very well, they have felt all the problems of bureaucracy being typical of that region. When the vessel arrives at port all the services meet it with the feeling of greed like cats waiting for the anglers with fish. They search for even the small mistakes in documentation because in these countries the laws have been changing very often, large number of regulatory standards and by-laws appears.
The western shipping companies have been applying the principle of neutral tolerance to the countries with deliberately enforced bureaucracy more and more often (as stated by Janet Plum). It means the principle of no bribe. Such practice was successfully applied in Africa where the local ports enforced the vessel processing without one’s split. Such experience has not influenced on Ukraine yet. But the Ukrainian forwarders say that the boycott against the corruptionists has been increasing more and more. As soon they get aware of any bribe to certain authorities they cancel their relationship both with the port and with the carriers.
The Round Table participants stated their own points of view regarding the solution of the abovementioned problems. The stevedores will probably be interested in the out-of-gauge cargo when they will have the old practice of determining the tariffs for such cargos. For example, in Ilyichevsk they determined the tariffs not according to the tonnage but according to the cubature, plus extra coefficient. It may be settled in the process of reform.
The Lithuanian experts state that out-of-gauge cargo cannot be transported solely. In cases, for example, where the roads did not suit for transporting two reactors, each of 500 tons, everybody gathered: port workers, forwarders, carriers and consignees, developed their own transportation corridor, invested their own funds in the infrastructure, even strengthened 7 bridges (nowadays there are effective enough and cheap technologies) being used by all the country inhabitants. And now the transport corridor is ready to face new out-of-gauge cargos.
Author: Valentina MIKHAILOVA
Source: PORTS OF UKRAINE – 2013. – No.5. – pages 16 – 17.
