1 Октября 2014

From:	John Keir, Ross Learmont Ltd
Email:	 john.keir@telia.com 
Date:	01 October 2014

A very fishy story.

The website fishnews.ru came up with the story of the week, as it investigated the delays in distributing the fish catch from Russian Far East ports to Siberia and Western Russia. With sanctions blocking the import of Norwegian salmon, the Russian government is expecting the Far East ports to make up the shortfall. There is certainly no shortage of fish. In the first eight months of this year, the total catch amounted to 1.4 million tons, much of which could replace imports from other countries, including Norway.

Fishnews reports that 300 refrigerated railway wagons are already in the Far East waiting impatiently to transport cargo to the markets in Central Russia. Unfortunately, transporting fish by rail wagons results in additional unloading and loading, part of which is done by hand – a long and laborious process. Also, many of the wagons are merely insulated, as opposed to, refrigerated wagons. At this time of the year, it is calculated that the cargo temperature inside an insulated railwagon rises by one degree Celsius per day meaning that the frozen fish may have partially thawed out by the time it reaches Moscow.

The website also revealed a major difference between bureaucratic procedures for export shipments and those for cargoes moving on domestic rail routes. A government order requires that documentation for export cargoes be processed within four hours. For domestic shipments, however, there are no such time constraints and cargoes are often delayed while authorities carry out physical inspections. These have to take place in refrigerated stores, which are normally full and have very limited available space where inspections can be carried out at short notice. And so, the delays are extended, the rail wagons cannot be loaded and additional demurrage costs arise that are eventually passed on to the customer.

The powers-that-be in Moscow, which imposed the import embargo in the first place, now want to see Russian clients being supplied with fish caught in Russian waters. A thorough review has been ordered starting with a round-table discussion, which was attended by the intrepid reporters from the ever-watchful Fishnews website. The review may recommend a change in how officials process documentation, a thorough rationalisation and reorganisation of the numerous terminals in the RFE handling the fish and a radical shift from conventional railwagons to refrigerated containers. Factories in Russia and China could quickly start offering both refrigerated containers and diesel generator wagons to power the containers on the journey from the Russian Far East to Central Russia. Indeed, the Chinese are in the process of constructing two new container factories that will increase the monthly output of special containers, including 40’ HC refrigerated containers. The change of mode would also help to relieve some of the bottlenecks that arise when switching between different modes of transport. Moreover, as the government officials observed, this would also bring Russia into line with other nations, which utilise intermodal equipment to ensure a speedier transfer of the product from the fishing grounds to the dining tables of millions of customers.

Already this year, 80,000 tons of fish were transported from the Russian Far East in refrigerated block trains. This represents a 300% rise on last year and a seven-fold increase on the total for 2012. However, this is merely the tip of the iceberg. The presidential office is now looking into the matter and already there are calls for greater use of refrigerated containers to distribute not only fish but also other perishable products. While on the subject of refrigerated containers, it should be noted that other classes of cargoes moving through cold regions also move in refrigerated (or temperature-controlled containers to give them their proper name). Last week, Apple released its latest mobile phone and long queues formed outside Apple stores around the world. Even before the phones were released, software updates had to be released and Apple had to admit that the phones did in fact bend if put in your back pocket. It is difficult to understand this fascination with new phone releases, as the text message still tells me that my football team had lost yet again.

If you read the reams of technical data that accompany all new products, you will note that many modern, high-tech appliances work only within a specific temperature range. It is not recommended that you use them doors the vast expanse of Eurasia during the winter – nor, indeed, the summer. The same applies to large tracts of the globe. This becomes a problem for all those factories sprouting up in Central China, which wish to export their products to Europe using the shorter land route in either the searingly hot summer or the freezing winter. This is why operators on these routes are employing temperature-controlled containers to supply European clients with popular electronic goods.

It was thirty years ago that we first supplied 40’ HC refrigerated containers to Sojuztransit, and then Northern Shipping Company and Fesco. It was while visiting Fesco in Vladivostok that my colleagues and I were “detained”. Although the USSR embassy in London had issued us with visas, these were deemed invalid by the local authorities in Vladivostok. Nevertheless, the authorities adopted a very pragmatic approach, collected details of all those companies we would visit and even suggested a local restauant for a meal. Everybody was waiting for us, there was always a Zhiguli outside to take us to our next meeting for a packet of Marlboro. Then, at the airport, we were put in the VIP Room and escorted out to the plane and invited to board first. That was ”detention –Vladivostok style”.

John Keir, Ross Learmont Ltd.
01 October 2014

Copyright ©, 2014, John Keir