Tampa port offers direct cargo shipping to Russia

Tractor-trailer rigs that once ferried freight on Florida highways are now filling the decks of cargo ships bound for Russia.

The used trucks are the first shipments being made under a new agreement for regular cargo trade between the Port of Tampa and Russia.

Heavy Parts International, a Tampa export company, is largely responsible for the decision by shipping line Atlantic Ro-Ro Carriers to launch the direct monthly service. Atlantic Ro-Ro Carriers has offices in Houston, New Jersey and Montreal, as well as Moscow and St. Petersburg in Russia.

The line's Baltic Mercur and its 24-member crew made the initial Tampa port of call Jan. 22, taking on cargo for a 17-day journey to St. Petersburg, Russia.

"We're the only ones offering direct service," said Vladimir Eremin, operations and sales manager with Atlantic Ro-Ro Carriers in Houston.

Other lines trans-ship, with cargo offloaded in Europe for shipment via land or sea to the final destination.

"A lot of parts disappear off our trucks when we trans-ship," said Edward S. Kin of Tampa, Heavy Parts' senior vice president.

Direct shipping also reduces handling and breakage, Ermine said.

Like all the line's eight ships, the twin-deck, 569-foot Baltic Mercur can handle a variety of cargo: fertilizer and other bulk commodities, steel and mining equipment, and containers.

Roll-on/roll-off cargo is loaded on the aft ramp, which has a capacity of 45 tons. The vessel's cranes can load 125 tons at a time.

The 25-year-old ship can even accommodate explosives, in a reinforced lower-deck compartment near the sturdy bow. It was built to carry missiles and tanks under the Soviet-era government, Eremin said.

All the ships of Atlantic Ro-Ro Carriers are also ice-class vessels, so they can continue working in Russia's coldest ports.

The export of used trucks and new and used truck parts is the primary focus of Heavy Parts International, which Kin founded in 1994. The company has expanded in recent years, relocating to an industrial area off North 50th Street that houses a 3,500-square-foot office, 17,000-square-foot indoor work area and 5,000 square feet outdoors.

The Tampa company used to disassemble and package its Russia-bound cargo in shipping containers, then send them to ports in Houston or Baltimore, Kin said. Later, the company shipped from Jacksonville's port, more than a three-hour drive from Tampa.

"It's now a lot easier on both ends," he said. "We don't have to tear down so far."

The company's first shipment out of Tampa consisted of 11 trucks, two stacks of three chassis each, and five 40-foot containers of truck parts. Another customer shipped three John Deere dump trucks aboard the Mercur at Tampa.

Already aboard was cargo loaded in Houston, including huge Caterpillar earth-moving equipment and trailers manufactured in Denver.

Atlantic Ro-Ro Carriers moves millions of tons of cargo each year between Russia and the United States' East and Gulf coasts.

The shipping line added Tampa to its ports of call at the urging of Kin and business partner Igor Yurchenko.

"The service is a result of our commitment to a certain amount of freight," Kin said.

Yurchenko is sole owner of Goodwill-Holding, Russia's largest importer of heavy-duty American trucks and truck parts. He is one of Atlantic Ro-Ro's biggest shippers.

Yurchenko obtained a visa and moved his family to Tampa in June 2010, aiming to become a U.S. citizen. He operates his company via teleconference.

Kin, now 68, is considering retirement soon and said forming the partnership with Yurchenko has helped ensure his venture's continued success.

"It was a good plan," he said, "worked out good for both of us."