OREANDA-NEWS. On 17 April 2008 Novorossiysk Commercial Sea Port  announces the purchase of new equipment for the timber terminal of Novoroslesexport: six new overhead cranes with the capacity of 20 tons produced in Russia by the Lemmens-Troitsky crane factory. The total cost, including manufacturing, delivery, certification and installation of the cranes is more than 30 million rubles (about \\$1,3 million).

The new equipment is purchased under the investment project aimed at increasing the capacity of lumber transshipping to 3 million m3 per year.

The use of the six overhead cranes on one side of unloading will allow to double the intensity of loading works, simultaneously processing 40 gondola-wagons of sawn timber.
The commissioning of the covered crane platform with the new equipment allows to prevent the delays in unloading caused by bad weather conditions in the fall and winter periods.

The new transshipment equipment is now undergoing testing and preparation for commissioning. The project is a part of NCSP`s massive investment program focused on the development and capacity growth with emphasis on highly profitable cargos.

NCSP

NCSP operates primarily at the Port of Novorossiysk (the "Port"), a multi-purpose, yearround, deep-water port located on the Russian shore of the Black Sea which has geographic, topographic and infrastructure advantages in comparison to ports and potential port sites in the Black Sea-Azov basin. The Port is Russia's largest sea port in terms of cargo turnover volume according to the Association of Russian Sea Ports, and Europe's fifth largest commercial sea port by cargo volume in 2005, according to Global Insight/ISL.

NCSP is a key Southern gateway for the import and export of a wide range of cargoes to and from the Russian economy (including oil, oil products, timber, grain, fertilizers, ferrous metals, containers, automobiles and general cargo). NCSP  andles approximately 20% by volume of cargoes shipped through Russian sea ports according to the Association of Russian Sea Ports.

During 2006, NCSP consolidated its shareholdings in the majority of other operators and stevedores in the Port.