The University of Hull this week hosted 60 participants in a StratMos Conference where the main subject was “Driving the Motorways of the Sea”. Custom regulations became one of the main focuses of the conference. The regulations are of course important, but also a hinder for the efficiency of sea transport. In Russia, custom rules are the same in all North-West Russian ports. However, companies still experience that custom clearance is practiced in different ways.
Trond Lorentzen of Eimskip CTG told about how Saint Petersburg and Murmansk, which have the same rules, practice them dissimilar.
- Even if the efficiency of ship calls to the port of Murmansk is progressing, we still feel that the custom authorities in Murmansk not always are reliable, said Trond Lorenzen.
Lorentzen told about his experience operating in the Barents Sea area and was one of the speakers who shifted the focus of Motorways of the Sea from south to the north. In spite of the financial crisis, Eimskip CTG still maintain their routes, also included the ports in the high north.
- The perspectives for development in the north are obvious, which means we still have to focus on this area, Lorentzen concluded.
