OREANDA-NEWS  On 22 September was announced, that Novorossiysk Commercial Sea Port (LSE: NCSP, RTS & MICEX: NMTP) begun handling Panamax-class container vessels at its dedicated container terminal, operated by Novoroslesexport (NLE), a subsidiary of NCSP.

BUXSTAR container carrier with a capacity of 3940 TEU of French container line CMA CGM became the first Panamax-sized container vessel to call at Novorossiysk on September 16, 2008.

The arrival of BUXSTAR is a milestone that marks the launch of the first direct container line service between Novorossiysk and China, which is expected to become regular. NCSP has also become the first Russian port to handle Panamax-class container vessels.

NLE container terminal is now capable of handling large-size container vessels as a result of expansion works carried out in 2007, when terminal’s capacity was increased to 350 000 TEU per annum. This project was implemented in the framework of NCSP’s long-term comprehensive investment program aimed at expanding port’s total handling capacity.

Today NLE handles container vessels of up to 5 000 TEU, against 2 000 TEU previously. The terminal works with most of the world’s major container lines like MSC, CMA CGM, Evergreen, Hapag-Lloyd, CSCL, EMES, NORASIA.