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The
Port: Historical Background
The town of Temryuk is situated at the northern coast of the Tamansky
Peninsula, on the right bank of the Kuban River close to its inflow to the Azov
Sea. The town originated in 1556. Temryuk, a Circassian prince who gave his name
to a fortress and to the first settlement in it, founded the town. The spell of
the Temryuk rule was the same of Russia’s penetration to the Northern Caucasus
as determined by the policy of Czar Ivan-the-Terrible who attempted an overall
expansion to the coasts of North, Northwest, and South seas. A dynasty marriage
of the Russian Czar and prince’s daughter was likely to be in keeping with the
goal. However, by that time a number of reasons prevented Russia from getting a
strong hold in the Northern Caucasus, although the idea of expanding the state’s
confines southward was growing ever more vital in the course of time.
In
the second half of the 18th century, the Northern Caucasus including
the Tamansky Peninsula became part of Russia.
In
1792, Temryuk was passed to the possession of Zaporozhiye Cossacks having also
been renamed as Temryukskaya Stanitsa (a Cossack
village).
A decree of settlement stating: “At the Azov Sea, within the land limits of
the Black-Sea Host, at the Temryukovskiy estuary, a port is being opened, and a
port town of Temryuk is being established at the place known as Temryukskaya
Stanitsa”, was a momentous event for the Stanitsa.
Due
to high bottom sedimentation rates, the port was only accessible to
shallow-draft vessels. With a view of an increased extent of shipping,
3-year-long attempts for settling the navigation problem by dredging around the
neighboring water space were being made as of 1895, having unfortunately met
with failure.
In
1904, the Ministry of Communications approved a new project for the port.
Construction works began in 1905 and were completed by 1908. The builders
separated one of the Kuban River’s arms from the navigation canal having
connected it with the Sea by erecting a dam and oak sheet piles. The man-made
reservoir was 120 m wide and 5.5 m deep.
The
WWI that followed shortly thereafter made the port development prospective a
fuzzy one for many years.
Within
the years 1935 thru 1949, the Temryuk Port was in the ownership of the USSR
Marine Fleet Ministry. It was passed to the Ministry of Fishery in August
1949.
In August 1993, the Temryuk Maritime Transportation LLC
(“Temryukmortrans” LLC, else, TMT LLC) was founded to maintain freight
transportation, storage and handling. Both the seafront installations and the
fleet were reequipped to transship, transport, and ensure overall maintenance of
the international-scale freight stream. Following a project developed in 3
years’ time by “Soyuzmorniiproekt”, country’s leading R&D institution,
restructuring and construction of terminals, load boards, dockside cranes was
carried out; new transportation, load vehicles and ships were purchased; new
dock storages were built; the navigation canal and the protecting structure were
redeveloped, too; personnel and staff have been certified, and all the necessary
licenses have been granted.
For
the time being, the TMT LLC is a shipping company running a sea fleet, a port, a
railway terminal, and a truck fleet of its own.
Pursuant
to No. 58 Decree of the Maritime Transportation Department of 24.08.1994, the
Temryk Port was duly entered in the List of Russia’s seaports. Following the
registration, the Port started to handle not the Russian ships alone but foreign
vessels as well. A border checkpoint, a customs office, and a quarantine service
were established; all kinds of the stevedore, forwarding, and agency services
have been organized.
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Russian
The Port: Historical Background
