Ports and Waterways AECOM Revised Final Report on the Master Plan Short, Medium and Long Term 351 6 Ports and Waterways This chapter considers Romania’s ports and waterways as part of the National Transport Master Plan. This chapter is ordered in the following sections: o Existing Conditions o Strategic Objectives o Operational Objectives o Testing Interventions o Other Interventions o Summary Each section is furthered ordered by listing the ports, starting with Constanta and then running up the Danube from the mouth of the river to where the Danube is no longer in Romania. Consideration is then given to the waterways including the Danube itself as well as the Danube-Black Sea Canal. AECOM has compiled this chapter using information from a number of sources including the Ministry of Transport as well as using outputs from consultation with industry stakeholders including port operators, administrators and shipping companies. 6.1 Existing Conditions 6.1.1 Over 318 million tonnes of freight was lifted in 2011. Figure 6.1 shows that of this a large amount of water based freight occurs both maritime (12%) and on the River Danube and canal systems (9%). This shows that water freight has an important role in the transportation of mostly bulk freight in Romania, mainly associated with traditional industries. 6.1.2 Containerisation of freight in Romania is currently just 4%. This is at a low level and it could be reasonably expected for this rate to increase over the next 20 years to a Western European average of around 12%. Containerisation will be prompted by rising labour costs and the need to reduce the cost of handling products in the supply chain. It remains to be seen whether water freight can offer competitive services for domestic flows of containers in the future. This subject is discussed in more detail in the intermodal section. Air Pipeline CFR Marfa (rail) 0% 2% 12% Private rail Maritime operators 12% 7% River 9% Road 58% AECOM Revised Final Report on the Master Plan Short, Medium and Long Term 352 Source: INSE and AECOM Figure 6.1 – Modal Market Share of Freight Movements in Romania 2011 6,000,000 Iron Ore 5,000,000 4,000,000 Other Commodities 3,000,000 Tonnes Major Cereals Ores 2,000,000 Mineral Products Commodity Mineral Products Mineral Products Cereals Iron Ore Mineral Products Metal Products Mineral Products Petroleum Products 1,000,000 Foodstuffs 0 Braila Galati Tulcea Calafat Orsova Giurgiu Corabia Oltenita Drobeta Basarabi Medgidia Cernavoda MoldovaVeche Source: APDF Giurgiu, APDM Galati, ACN Figure 6.2 – Tonnes Handled by Romania’s Ports in 2011 6.1.3 Figure 6.2 shows the major ports in Romania (listed in the following section) and demonstrates the volume of freight that they handled in 2011. Figure 6.2 also shows the major commodity handled by the particular ports in 2011. This shows that some ports such as Galati and Braila are diversified as the major commodity handled by the port (in this case iron ore and cereals respectively) does not dominate the total tonnes handled. However at other ports such as Tulcea and Basarabi the major commodity dominates the overall total. Ports Constanta 6.1.4 As Romania’s major seaport Constanta is the most developed and offers the widest range of facilities. The port handled 55 million tonnes in 2013 and had 14,066 vessel movements of which 34% were maritime-related and 66% on to the river network (9,233). 64% of the port volume consists of dry bulk and cereals have recently been the most significant individual commodity at the port. Constanta also handles around 10 million tonnes of liquid bulk and around 4 million tonnes of general cargo. In addition, Constanta is the largest container port in the Black Sea mainly due to DP World’s Constanta South Container Terminal which opened in 2004 and in 2012 handled 97% of container movements at the port. Although Constanta is a major regional container port, it is not one the top 20 container ports (by volume) in Europe. It handled 661,000 TEU (Twenty foot equivalent units) in 2013, although the peak year for containers was 2007 when the port handled 1.41 million TEU. The ongoing economic conditions, particularly the low rates being paid for container movements, have affected shipping lines to the extent that fewer shipping lines serve the port and shared services arrive with containers for several shipping lines. AECOM Revised Final Report on the Master Plan Short, Medium and Long Term 353 6.1.5 Constanta has a large hinterland and acts as a transhipment point for many goods. Several other European ports already provide good links to Central Europe but there is scope for Constanta to increase its throughput provided that road, rail and water links are improved. Being further east and geographically closer to China by several days sailing time than northern European ports means Constanta could attract market share from other ports if the economies of scale and shipping rates are attractive. Constanta is strategically situated to potentially feed freight into the heartland of Central and Eastern Europe but due to the poor intermodal infrastructure it is not possible to fully capitalise on this opportunity. 6.1.6 The port has completed several infrastructure projects in recent years such as Rehabilitation of the Breakwaters of Constanta’s Port (€70 million); New Container Terminal on Pier II South Constanta Port ($90 million); Barge Terminal (€24 million), Constanta Port Environment and Infrastructure Project (€22 million); these were financed mainly by IFIs (EIB, Phare Programme, JBIC, EBRD) and co-financed by the state budget and the company’s own resources. 6.1.7 Ongoing developments include four main projects financed by the Structural Funds of European Union and co-financed by the State Budget through the Sectoral Operational Programme in Transports 2007- 2013. These are the extension of the North Breakwater by 1050 m, (€136 million); the road bridge over the Black Sea Danube Canal and related road access infrastructure (€30 million); the development of the railway capacity in the river-maritime sector (€17 million) and the Southward Extension of the Lighter Berth in the Port (€5million). 6.1.8 Constanta has berths dedicated to a range of commodities. Many of these berths are well utilised but the number of containers the port can handle is not becoming of its status as a major container port. 6.1.9 Regaining market share and thereby container volumes by reassigning port facilities to container movements and regenerating older infrastructure should be considered a priority for Constanta. The port has commissioned its own Masterplan in 2013 aimed at identifying major investment plans, for example a €300m development at the south side, a plan for the development of a LPG/oil terminal (depending on private investor input) and other developments such as an ongoing dredging programme, and highway improvements including widening the main internal roads from two to four lanes. This will address the problems of Port Infrastructure and services in greater detail. o Problem: Constanta has some inadequate and old infrastructure that is unsuitable for handling new flows, including containers. It also could improve its connectivity. o Proposed Solution: Build a new container terminal at Constanta (III & IVS) o The south of Constanta Port offers development potential for a container terminal, with the main advantage conferred by larger depths of water for berths. Ship size is growing rapidly and at the time of writing 19,000 TEU ships are now in use and they are only able to serve ports with the deepest water. A range of full and empty container handling should be developed in accordance with traffic projections to ensure Constanta competes with other major container ports. Whilst current capacity at Constanta is sufficient it is considered inadequate to accommodate growth in the longer term. Any such solution should be phased according to market conditions. The plan is to invest around €18 million in an extra rail terminal plus other berth improvements. The volume of containers handled in 2007 was 1.41 million TEUs and this is known to be near current maximum capacity, approximately 1.5 million. So the port reached 94% of its theoretical capacity in 2007. Although capacity is sufficient for meeting the immediate demand of 700,000 TEUs, for the following seven AECOM Revised Final Report on the Master Plan Short, Medium and Long Term 354 reasons it is expected that the volume will grow and additional capacity will be needed by around 2020 or soon after: o Containerisation in Romania is currently just 4% and at a low level although it is expected that this will grow over the next 20 years to a Western European average of around 12%. This growth will be prompted by rising labour costs and the need to reduce the cost of handling products in the supply chain. The cost of handling containers is cheaper and quicker than traditional methods. o Romania did suffer with the economic recession and this was particularly manifested in much lower imports. With the economy growing again and with more economic buying power it is expected that volumes of imports and hence the number of containers will grow again. o Road and rail improvements made to Romania’s transport network over the next decade will improve journey times to the hinterland making transport costs lower and more competitive. The faster journey times will encourage more shippers to choose routes to and through Romania. Currently transit freight to many landlocked countries such as Hungary and Austria is being routed through Mediterranean and Adriatic ports (e.g.