FREIGHT HANDLING AT SOVIET PORTS LAGS IN SPITE OF NEW PORT EQUIPMENT

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00809A000700030427-3
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 6
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: October 14, 2011
• Sequence Number: 427
• Publication Date: December 12, 1951
• Content Type: REPORT

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? CLASSIFICATION CONFIDENTIAL CONFIDENTIAL
CENTRAL INTELL GE CEE AGENCYON REPORT'
INFORMATION FROM
FOREIGN DOCUMENTS OR RADIO BROADCASTS CD NO.
COUNTRY USSR
SUBJECT Economic - Water transportation
HOW
PUBLISHED Daily newspapers; :aonthly periodical
WHERE
PUBLISHED USSR
DATE
PUBLISHED Jan - 27 Sep 1951
LANGUAGE Russian
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/IYn? IT u?. U-"=*. *. n OF TRIO POUR IC IWCImnI.
DATE OF
INFORMATION 1951
SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT NO.
FREIGHT HANDLING AT SOVIET PORTS LAGS
IN SPITE OF NEW PORT EQUIPMENT
Moscow, Rechnoy Transport, 17 Jul 51
From 1940 to 1950, the number of machines utilized for loading and un-
loading operations in river ports increased 88 percent. The number of cranes
i.scd increased 3.8 times, floating cranes six times. The main machine types
were produced by plants and shops of the Ministry of River Fleet. Loading
and unloading operations were 80.3 percent mechanized in 1950, as against
46.4 percent ~i 1940. Labor requirements dropped 37 percent since 1940, and
the average production per worker increased 172 percent. Productivity of
loading and unloading operations increased ..5 times in this period.
However, these improvements have not kept up with increased demands. The
ports and wharves are not keeping up with the additional burdens imposed on
them by the new hydroelectric and irrigation construction projects. One of the
reasons for this is that port constrl?-tion is lagging behind shipbuilding. Dur-
ing the postwar Five-Year Plan, the tugboat fleet was increased 25 percent, dry
cargo nonself-propelled vessels 32 percent, and dry cargo self-propelled vessels
4.6 times. In this period, wharf areas were not extended very much.
Supplier ministries have not modernized their wharves, and, in 1947, 60
percent of the wharves of the economic ministries which do most of the river
shipping were not mechanized.
The lack of .sodern ports and wharves has imposed an additional burden on
the railroads. For example, hundreds of thousands of tons of lumber are shipped
by rail from the northern parts of the eastern USSR to the southern part of the
country (Donbass, Caucasus), while many Volga ships travel empty in that direc-
tion. The cost of shipping lumber in this way is much higher than it would be
by river transport. For example, it is estimated that the cost of shipping one
ton of lumber from Kotlas to the Transcaucasus is about 126 rubles, while by
mixed river and rail transport it would cost 105 rubles. Shipping lumber from
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ARMY
DISTRIBUTION
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Arkhangelsk to the Transccucasus by mixed rail and water transport would save
24 rubles per ton. In this case, the lumber is transferred frcm rail to water
at Yaroslavl' and back to rail at Astrakhan'. Hauling lumber in Tavda to
the Caucasus, with transshipping at Molotov and Stalingrad, void save 39 ru-
bles per ton.
Industrial enterprises frequently use railroad instead of river trans-
p,)rt for hauling in fuel and raw materials and for shipping finished products
because of the lack of adequate ports and wharves.
Inadequate port and wharf facilities have also been responsible for ex-
tended ship layovers. At present, ships are lying idle 30 percent of the op-
erating time in Volga ports, 40 percent in Dnepr ports.
At present, only a little more than 20 percent of the total freight is
handled In ports without the use of manual labor.
Forty percent of the plan for hauling Volga River freight is handled by
the Stalingrad river region. This river section includes 500 kilometers of
the Volga River and supports the most intense freight traffic. Many large
ports and vhterves, including Stalingrad, Krasnoarmeysk, Vladimirovka, Kamy-
shin, Dubovka and others, are operating in this section.
The Stalingrad river center is an important transshipping base. Here,
mine timbers are transferred from water to railroad transport for the Donbass,
and mineral and construction materials are also transshipped.
The Stalingrad river region is lagging behind schedule more than any other
of the Volga regions. For 3 months in a row, the Stalingrad Regional Adminis-
tration of the Volga Freight. Ship Line and the Stalingrad Freight and Passenger
Port have failed to complete their hauling plans, and in August, the plan of the
Stalingr,^. Regional Administration was completed only 84 percent.
The dispatching service is completely out of hand. Ships are often dis-
patched empty or only partially loaded, and idle time of ships waiting for port
facilities adds up to thousands of hours. Every day, 20-25 barges wait to be
unloaded at the port. Information on incoming freight is delayed and often
not correct.
Heads of the Freight and Passenger Administration and the Ministry of the
River Fleet know that Koz'min, chief of the Stalingrad port, is not capable of
running this large Volga port. They have reprimanded him frequently but have
not yet replaced him.
Bakhtin, chief of the regional administration, and his deputy spend most
of their time at meetings and have little time left to visit the ships and piers.
The fate of the plan for hauling freight on the Volga depends, to a large de-
gree, on the Stalingrad Regional Administration. This organization should be
aided by the Volga Freight Ship Line and its chief Nikolir. However, heads of
the ship line do little but send decrees and circulars; in the last 5 months,
more than 2,223 telegrams were received at Stalingrad from this organization.
Heads of the ship line do nothing to see that the decrees are carried out.
Representatives of the ship line and of the ministry are constantly in
Stalingrad, but their presence does not improve hauling operations at all.
Also, Seleznev, chief of the Volga Freight and Passenger Ship Line, Bulatov,
deputy chief of the Volga Freight Ship Line, Romashchenko, chief of Glavtsen-
troflot (Main Administration of River Fleet of Central Basins), and Shashkov,
Minister of River Fleet, have all visited Stalingrad this year, but their visits
have not improved operations of this region.
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River workers of Stalingrad have not fulfilled their plan for hauling
freight for the construction projects and they are particularly behind ached-
'tle in supplying sand to the Volga-Don Canal. They are also behind schedule
in hauling freight from the right bank of the Volga to the left bank for the
hydroelectric construction project. Sbashkov did not visit the construction
projects to consult with the construction chiefs but simply talked with the
chief of "Stalingradgidrostroy" (Organization for the Construction of the
Stalingrad Hydroelectric Center) for a short time by telephone. The construc-
tion workers did not even know of the arrival of the other chiefs in Stalin-
grad as the latter avoided contact with the construction chiefs.
Although both the ministry and ship line knew a year ago that the freight
flow along the Volga, particularly in the Stalingrad region, would increase
considerably, still they did little to prepare for this event. Not until the
middle of summer, when the hauling plans were not being fulfilled, was any-
thing done about the matter. The ministry then sent only a few additional
ships to handle the work, and these ships proved unsuitable.
Grain of the new harvest will soon be coming into the Krasnoarmeysk port
for transshipment. In preparing for these shipments, the Sarepta station is
now coordinating its time schedules with river transport schedules. However,
to do this, it must first dispose of nearly 60,000 tons of last year's harvest
which were still stored by Zagotzerno [Administration for the Procurement of
Grain and Other Oleaginous Crops in mid-June. Only 500 to 1,200 tons of
this grain are shipped per day. Zagotzerno is complaining that the railroad
is not furnishing the cars necessary for loading the grain.
One of the two car scales at the Sarepta station is being completely
overhauled, thus holding up grain shipments. The station has five instead
of the required seven locomotives, and crews are lacking to keep even these
in operation. In addition, two switch towers, one at the location and the
other on the switching tracks, are needed to prevent accidents and transpor-
tation delays.
Grain deliveries by train are still not reported in advance. ?requently,
the pier learns about grain shipments after the train loaded with grain has
already arrived at the station.
By agreement between the Ministries of Transportation, River Fleet, and
Agricultural Procurement, only grain of a single crop and type will be trans-
shipped at the Krasnoarmeysk pier. This requirement is violated systematically
as two to four types of grain are received at the same time. The pier has but
one grain berth and is able to handle only one kind of grain at a time. As a
result, railroad cars accumulate at the station while wharf workers are delayed
by having to load vessels with different kinds of grain. As the vessels must
carry a single type of grain, they have to make way for other vessels when a
different type of grain is to be loaded, even though they have to return to
get the rest of their load. The Ministry of Agricultural Procurement must see
to it that only one type of grain is sent for transshipment at this pier, and
the Ministry of Transportation must strictly control grain transshipments.
Glavtsentroflot and the Volga Freight Ship Line should be given an exact
chart showing the movement of diesel and nonself-propelled vessels so that the
grain pier can be kept busy.
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One hundred more port workers are needed to assure transshipment of grain,
sand, and coal from the pier.
To mechanize the wharf completely, 10 or 12 new mechanical heists must bo
installed as the exist"ig ones have worn out and frequently break down. In ad-
dition, the wharf needu four electric motors to replace the old ones when they
brook A-....
Moscow, Rechnoy Transport, 17 Jul 51
The port at Volotov is a very important link in the hauling of dry cargo
in the Volga and ICema basins. Its freight handling capacity has been increased
2+* times since 1940, and the port is now 92 percent mechanized. However, the
port is still not able to handle the increased demands made upon it. In 1950,
the port got the reputation of holding up ships. In May and June 1950, there
were usually 15 to 19 ships waiting at anchorage, and many of these vessels
were forced to wait a month or more to be handled.
Minsk, Sovetskaya Belorussiya, 10 Jun 51
The new floating pneumatic grain conveyer in use in the south port of
Baku, Bakinskiy Rabochiy, 28 Jun 51
At Baku there is a three-sided pier to facilitate freight handling, All
loading and unloading operations are mechanized. Belt conveyers, automatic
loading machines, and crane hoists are used on the wharf.
Moscow, Rechnoy Transport, 14 Sep 51
tion season, all petroleum-carrying vessels have been serviced while under way
out requiring them to layover. All this is done by special auxiliary vessels.
Moscow, Rechno,- Transport, 12 Jun 51
In the south port of Moscow, tests have been completed on a pneumatic
floating grain-loading machine. This first model was made in the experimental
shops of Glavtsentroflot. As the machine has a floating base, it can be used
at different ports during the navigation Beason according to demand
Th
.
e pneu-
matic loader sucks the grain out of the freighter's hold, cleans it in a special
filter, and transfers it directly into railroad cars. The machine, capable of
loading 100 tons per hour, operates automatically and, as the loading mechanism
is enclosed, duct is not scattered over the dock area. The experimental shops
are designing a second pneumatic grain-loading machine and have already fabri-
cated, part of this machine.
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Moscow, Morskoy Flot, No 1, Jan 51
Mechanized loading operations at Soviet seaports increased considerably
during the postwar Five-Year Plan. The average mechanization level for ports
of the Ministry of Maritime Fleet as a whole reached 88 percent in 1950, con-
siderably surpassing the 1940 level of 65.9 percent. Some ports attained an
even higher level of mechanization: Odessa 96 percent, Novosibirsk 95 per-
cent, and Zhdanov 95 percent.
In 1950, nearly 6,000 ships were loaded or unloaded by fast methods, thus
saving a total of 100,000 hours over existing norms. In the ministry as a
whole, 40 percent of all freight was loaded by fast methods in 1950 and, in
some ports, this figure reached 50-75 percent. However, in spite of this high
degree of mechanization, many of the loading and unloading operations are still
done manually, including some aspects of operations which are mainly mechanized.
Ship's holds are still loaded and unloaded primarily oy manual methods,
and mechanization of this kind of work is being developed very slowly. The
came situation exists for loading and unloading railroad cars and warehouses.
For unloading bulk freight such as coal, ore, salt, etc., special-type
grab buckets with 6- to 8-meter-vide jaws are used. These "scraper-type"
buckets service up to 50 percent of the hold area and unload 60-80 percent
of the contents (single deck ships). Three-cubic-meter coal grab buckets
are in series production at the Zhdanov plant of the Ministry of Maritime
Fleet. In the near future, similar grab buckets of smaller capacity (for coal)
must be designed and produced for 5-ton cranes, as well as grab buckets for un-
loading ore and other bulk freight.
In the first 6 months of 1950, gathering arm coal-loading machines, type
S-153, were tested in ship's holds. The results of the tests were very satis-
factory. Although the machine was designed for other purposes, it proved ver-
satile enough to be used for this work. This machine will be used in all ports
which unload bulk freight from ship's holds.
Many ports (Baku, Makhachkala; use simple r'lloading (metatelnyy) machines
with drum-mounted scoops for unloading grain from ship's holds. These machines
can also be used for unloading salt, sand, fine coal, and other bulk freight.
They should be put into operation at ports in the near future.
Fork lifts can be used for loading uniform mixed freight into ship's holds.
These machines can pile the freight into piles 3-4 meters high. This method is
used in Leningrad and Odessa for various kinds of mixed freight. The Leningrad
port uses portable duralumin conveyers for smaller mixed freight.
Fork lifts, light portable conveyers, and other machines for mechanized
loading and unloading of mixed freight should be generally introduced in a short
time.
In addition to the above machines, a "KS" type loader for loading coal, a
hold bulldozer, an overhead hold crane, and other machines are now being devel-
oped.
Loading and unloading operations on tLe docks and in the warehouses and
storage areas are much easier to mechanize than in the ships themselves. Hun-
dreds of machines such as caterpillar-mounted cranes, truck cranes, fork lifts,
electric trucks, small tractors and trailers, etc., are being used in Soviet
ports for work on the docks and storage areas. However, these machines are
not very efficiently utilized. At many ports these machines are frequently
idle or break down after being used on cobblestone or other poorly surfaced
pavement. These areas should be asphalted as soon as possible.
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The packaging of nixed freight into larger bundles for handling and stow-
ing is helping to make the freight handling more efficient.
Loading and unloading boxcar, is a time-cormuming process. Although fomID:
lifts and truck cranes help to mechanize this work, they do not provide cad-
plate mechanisation of this work. To solve this problem, small ball-ton fork
lifts which can load the freight inside the care are being developed. Also,
port innovators are developing mechanical shovels and small conveyers to be
used in loading and unloading railroad cars.
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