Shipping division

Assets

As at 31 December 2020, the Shipping Division’s fleet consisted of 18 vessels with a total deadweight of 279 kt and containers with a carrying capacity of 200 thousand TEU. The fleet comprises 12 container vessels, five universal bulk carriers and one icebreaker transport ship. 12 of the vessels within the Division's fleet are ice-class.

An integral part of FESCO's strategy is the fleet renewal and ongoing upgrade programme.

In 2020, the Company sold three outdated Sokol-type vessels and one timber carrier (FESCO Primorye, FESCO Posyet, FESCO Pevek and Amur), and purchased two previously used Arc4 MPP-type multi-purpose ice-class bulk carriers meeting the standards for year-round NSR shipping along Russia’s northern coast. Both of the multi-purpose vessels, FESCO Paris and FESCO Ulysses, are same-type vessels with a deadweight of 12.7 kt built in the PRC in 2004.

FESCO is planning to further upgrade its fleet and purchase new container vessels for its own lines and multi-purpose bulk carriers.

Services

The Shipping Division provides regular and tramp sea shipping services, and delivers cargo by sea, bringing vital supplies to remote northern areas of Russia, as well as to Antarctic expeditions.

Liner shipping

Liner shipping is carried out by the Liner and Logistics Division responsible for the sea part of intermodal transportation. The service is offered on domestic shipping lines: FESCO Magadan Line (FML), FESCO Anadyr Direct Line (FADL), FESCO Petropavlovsk-Kamchatka Line (FPKL), FESCO Korsakov Direct Line (FKDL), and on export and import sea lines, with Japan, China and South Korea being the main destinations.

Tramp shipping

FESCO universal bulk carriers are engaged in delivering cargoes to unimproved port facilities of the Kuril Islands, Kamchatka and the Russian Arctic in an important social project for delivery of supplies to remote areas in the north of Russia.

As part of this programme, in June to November FESCO Pioneer and FESCO Ussuri bulk carriers performed six trips on the Vladivostok—Anadyr—Egvekinot—Vladivostok route, bringing food products, consumer goods, vehicles and fuel. All in all, total cargo deliveries amounted to 22.3 kt placed in 1.5 thousand loaded containers. kt placed in 1.5 thousand loaded containers.

The purchase in 2020 of two multi-purpose bulk carriers, FESCO Paris and FESCO Ulysses, secured cargo transportation from Europe to the Russian Far East along the Northern Sea Route, as well as successful participation in the project for cargo delivery to the port of Pevek under a contract with Chukotka Mining & Geological Company JSC (part of the Kinross Gold Corporation). Working under the two-year contract, FESCO has been able to launch the FESCO Arctic Line and register it with the Federal Agency for Maritime and River Transport. The line launch had a significant impact on the Company's reputation and economics.

FESCO continued to cooperate with the National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research under the Ministry of Earth Science of India (NCPOR). In 2020, diesel-electric ship Vasiliy Golovnin successfully completed its second Antarctic expedition to supply goods to Indian research stations Bharati and Maitri, and commenced the third one.

On the premises of FESCO Service, the Shipping Division repairs FESCO vessels and offers ship repair and maintenance services to third parties. Mobile maintenance crews perform a wide range of repair activities without suspending operation of vessels on board of both FESCO’s own ships and third-party vessels.

Operations

Decrease in operating indicators is due to the retirement of outdated transportation fleet as part of the fleet upgrade programme, which has reduced operating expenses and considerably improved the fleet’s economic performance.