By the Ministry of Transport of Russia order dated 09.03.2023 No. 71, amendments to The Standards for Technological Design of Seaports (SP 350.1326000.2018), regarding the inclusion of requirements regulating standards of technological design of transshipment, transportation and accumulation of ammonium nitrate and its derivatives in seaports, were approved. In the amendments, there are also requirements for ensuring the safety of human life and health, the environment, buildings and structures of sea terminals, including regulatory provision for the accumulation of at least 25 thousand tons of ammonium nitrate in bulk in one warehouse.

The draft amendments were developed by Central Marine Research and Design Institute JSC under an agreement with FSUE “Rosmorport”. The document was posted on the official website of Rosstandart in April this year.

The amendments make it possible to build specialized terminals in the seaports of the Russian Federation for the transshipment of hazardous mineral fertilizers (ammonium nitrate and its derivatives). Previously, due to the lack of such specialized terminals, producers of mineral fertilizers were forced to use capacities in the ports of Ukraine and the Baltic States.

The approved standards are expected to have a positive impact on the development of mineral fertilizers exports, and also to contribute to the reorientation of cargo flows from ports of neighboring countries to Russian ones.