Offshore oil terminal in Murmansk Region capable of transshipping 5.4 million tonnes a year

An offshore oil terminal capable of transshipping 5.4 million tonnes a year has been opened in the Murmansk Region.

As a Rosbalt correspondent was informed today by the press office of the Murmansk Shipping Company, the company management signed an agreement for the oil terminal in the Kola Bay to be opened. This offshore terminal was designed, accepted and then built between the end of November 2002 and the beginning of May 2003 at the request of the Murmansk Shipping Company.

The terminal has eight ground systems which allow it to hold tankers with a dead weight of up to 150 thousand tonnes. The terminal will operate 24 hours a day and resque ships will be on hand when oil is being transferred in order to avoid oil spills.

Similar oil terminals are operating in the Saint Petersburg area, in the Black Sea and other areas. The advantage of the new offshore terminal in the Murmansk Region is that it is located in a bay and protected from the wind. The terminal is the first in the Kola Bay and is intended for shipping oil for export for YUKOS oil company.