Ulyanovsk: river port, history and modern realities

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:53

Ulyanovsk (formerly Simbirsk) is a city located in the European part of the Russian Federation, having the status of an urban district and located on the Volga Upland, on the banks of the Kuibyshev reservoir, the Volga and Sviyaga rivers, closer to the confluence of channels. The date of foundation of the settlement is considered to be 1648, today about 620 thousand people live in it.

Geographical and climatic features

The territory of the city is located on a hilly plain. Height above sea level - from 80 to 160 meters. In the right-hand side of the settlement, there are more ups and downs. The climate here is temperate continental, but a little drier than in the center of the country. The average annual atmospheric temperature is +5 degrees. The Ulyanovsk river port is located within the city. The average duration of navigation on the Volga is 195-200 days. The port is a link between other modes of transport: road and rail.

History of Appearance

Even in pre-revolutionary Russia, the city was of great strategic importance, being the center of the grain trade. All loading and unloading operations in the port at that time were carried out manually due to the strong degree of steepness of the coast.

After the completion of the construction of the Volga hydroelectric power station, which led to the deepening and expansion of the Volga channel, construction began on the port territory to build a modern receiving and departure river point. From 1952 to 1961, a dam and a dam 12 meters high were erected.

Already in the 60s of the last century, the river port of Ulyanovsk began to flourish, and it began to be called the port of five seas. The heyday of the enterprise fell on the 80s, the volumes of loading and unloading operations were constantly increasing (the calculation went to millions of tons). Like most enterprises, in the 90s, the port began to decline. Vessels were written off, passengers were transported from time to time, but the enterprise continued to work.

In the early 2000s, the Ulyanovsk river port began to slowly revive. Boat trips have even resumed. In 2009, the motor ship OM-401 was repaired, put into operation and plows the waters under a new name - "Hero Yuriy Em". There are also trips on the motor ship "Moskovsky-20".

Tourist and walking routes

The port offers residents and guests of the city pleasure trips along the Kuibyshev reservoir. In 1.5 hours you can see two legendary bridges of the city - “Imperial (road and railway, built in 1916) and “Presidential” (built in 2009)

For those who want to relax at the "green parking lot" and the recreation center "Green Yar", there is a regular tourist flight, travel time - 45 minutes.

Motorships correspond to modern conceptscomfort, the cabin has an air conditioning and ventilation system.

On both ships there is an opportunity to hold festive events and receptions, including weddings. "Geroy Yuri Em" accommodates 108 people on board, and "Moskovsky-20" - 150 people.

JSC "Rechport Ulyanovsk" offers charter of vessels for individual transportation both within the Kuibyshev reservoir and for longer distances. Tourist routes are handled by the Simbirskaya Gavan company, which operates on the territory of the port.

Shipping company

The river port of Ulyanovsk is cargo and passenger berths. The territory has crane runways and 11 gantry cranes (one of them with a lifting capacity of 100 tons). The company owns warehouse space of 4500 sq. m., of these areas 3 closed warehouses.

The port, like most of the country's enterprises, was privatized in the 2000s. It cannot be said that the economic recovery at the enterprise immediately began, but nevertheless there are some improvements.

Compared to the 2000s, today the volume of freight and passenger traffic has increased, from 8 thousand to 15,910 thousand tons. And passengers are transported already 2 times more, in the "zero" it was only 15 thousand, and now 30 thousand for the navigation season.

In 2000, the company had 5 towing units, in 2016 - already 10. Barges also doubled, previously there were only 7 working platforms, now 15.

Don't forgetthat most ports receive subsidies from the local budget, for example, 60 million rubles are allocated in Tatarstan, and 20 million in Samara. Ulyanovsk river port has not received a penny from the local or federal budget.

Modern Issues

Not so long ago, the port authorities were dumbfounded by the statement of the governor of the Ulyanovsk region, Sergei Morozov. The official said that it is necessary to return the Ulyanovsk river port to the municipal property. Everyone in Ulyanovsk is outraged, including local residents, because there is a big risk that hundreds of employees will lose their jobs.

The port authorities are rightly outraged, because the local authorities do absolutely nothing to help. The port independently maintains the infrastructure, trains personnel in other cities. According to the administration, in response to the last request to resolve the issue of access roads, the local authorities offered to repair them at their own expense. The lack of access roads makes it impossible to cooperate with shippers, as a result, the port can only be reached by a “killed” road along Nagornaya Street. And these are not the only problems that, I want to believe, the port will cope with.