Our port-city has for centuries been an important element in the inter-relationships between Russia, other European countries, and the rest of the world. Arkhangelsk was built and developed first and foremost as a port. Over four centuries, as the city has grown, so has Russia’s first seaport grown and developed.

In ancient times Russians traded with the Ganza Union across the Baltic Sea. Upon conclusion of the Livonian War in 1581, with the loss of the towns of Narva, Yam and Koporye, Russia also lost its access to the Baltic Sea. The gaze of the Russian Tsar was then turned to the White Sea. In 1583 Ivan IV (Ivan the Terrible) gave the order to build the city of Arkhangelsk- “a city for launching ships”.

By the end of the summer of 1854, on the high banks of the Northern Dvina, where the river divides into the three branches Pudozhemskoye, Murmanskoye and Berezovoye, and close to the Mikhail-Arkhangelsk Monastery, “within one year they had built a wooden city”.

The rapid growth of international trade resulted in the birth of a number of various industries. These included what are today referred to as ship piloting, cargo transfer, and cargo transportation. The very first Russian ship piloting artel - “Ships’ Drivers” - was formed in Arkhangelsk .

Expensive material such as English cloth, and Barbant silk and velvet were shipped to Russia. Sugar, spices, lemons, hand-soap, writing-paper, cotton-thread, thread, needles, lace, and pearls came into the country as well. So did coveted European china, and weapons. As Russia was not a wine-producer, wine was imported in great quantities. But the most profitable business was that of coin minting. The Russian treasury, not having its own gold and silver, melted down imported thalers and King’s thalers (efimkies) and minted a Tsar’s currency, which it put into circulation.

And ships sailed away from Arkhangelsk with everything that the Russian land could give, whatever merchants could bring them from across the vast country. Bread, tallow, flax, hemp, canvas, wax, skins, and of course the famous furs, were the typical goods exported from Russia .

Peter I arrived in Arkhangelsk for the very first time on July 30, 1693, accompanied by an enormous retinue. The sight of Russia’s first seaport left an indelible impression on the young Tsar. Ten foreign merchant-ships sat in the river opposite the Gostiny Dvor trading-center. The multi-coloured flags and pennants of the vessels fluttered in the river breeze. A hundred smaller water-craft plied to and fro between these ships and the riverbank, carrying people and merchandise. The city itself bustled with activity, and conversations conducted in many different languages could be overheard. A brisk trade in Russian and foreign merchandise went on at numerous market-stalls and shops.

To welcome Peter I to Arkhangelsk, a 12-cannon yacht had been constructed, and christened the St. Peter. It was aboard this yacht that the Tsar went out to sea for the first time in his life. He escorted a convoy of Dutch merchant-ships from the city of Arkhangelsk out to the mouth of the White Sea. Peter I thus fulfilled his dream of seeing the sea, a dream he had held ever since that day as a boy, when he had stumbled across an old English boat at his grandfather’s Kolomenskoye estate. And was it not through the port of Arkhangelsk that this very same boat - “the grandfather of the Russian fleet” - ended up in Kolomenskoye, to be discovered by the young Peter I?

During his time in Arkhangelsk, Peter I often visited the trading-center, and conversed both with Russian and foreign merchants. The Tsar, with his innate shrewdness and practicality, quickly understood that in order to strengthen Russia as an economic power a fleet was required.

Before the year was over, Peter I had laid down the timbers for the very first Russian ship on the central island of Solombala in Arkhangelsk. On May 20, 1964 , upon his second visit to Arkhangelsk, the Tsar personally chopped down the supports of the newly constructed ship and let it slide into the water. This ship, named the St. Pavel, set sail the same year for foreign ports, with a cargo of official goods. Russia had appeared on the seas as a great merchandising power.

The long-lasting Northern War, which saw Russia fighting with Sweden, broke out in the late eighteenth century. The war was fought over territory which had belonged to Russia for generations, and over access to the Baltic Sea. Peter I created a model new army, and built a war-fleet, and to equip and support his land- and sea-forces, more and more foreign goods were required. Russia needed European-made guns, ammunition, cannons, and hull-fittings for the fleet under construction.

As a result of the war, the volume of trade in Arkhangelsk grew rapidly. Now not ten, but a hundred ships were sailing into the port. And Arkhangelsk was now not only a major international marketplace, but a strategically vital Russian city as well. Concerned about his only seaport, Peter I hurried to seal off this “Gate to the Russian Empire” from the Swedes. In the summer of 1701 on the island of Linsky Priluk, 15 versts downriver from the city, construction of the Novodvinsk fortress was begun. A sea-battle was fought below the walls of the unfinished fortress on June 26, ending in Russia ’s first naval victory. Sharpshooters and gunners under the command of Sylvester Yevlev prevented a Swedish squadron from entering the city. The Battle of Novodvinsk possessed not only military significance, but political significance as well, which resonated through all the royal courtyards of Europe.

It was during these years that the port underwent a transformation, associated with the name of Vice-Admiral Cornelius Kruse. The Vice-Admiral had been sent to Arkhangelsk by Peter I in 1702, and it was due to his efforts that a naval port was created. Buoys were set up for the first time on both sides of the navigational channel leading into the Arkhangelsk port. A lighthouse tower was built on the island of Mudyug, at the mouth of the Northern Dvina River; this tower also served as accommodation for ship pilots. The construction of proper docks was also initiated in the city.

In 1721 the Northern War came to a victorious conclusion for Russia. St. Petersburg, Peter 1’s beloved child, was built, and its importance as the empire’s new capital grew progressively greater. By decree of Peter 1, as of April 4, 1722, all export trade out of Arkhangelsk was transferred to the banks of the Neva. Only that quantity of bread and other goods “required for the needs of the inhabitants themselves, and not to be sold beyond the sea” could be shipped to Arkhangelsk from other regions of Russia . The number of merchant ships arriving at the northern port decreased sharply; in 1725 only 19 ships arrived at Arkhangelsk. Russia’s first port appeared to be defunct, having passed the watch to the youthful St. Petersburg .

The following period in the history of Arkhangelsk is connected with the rebirth of shipbuilding in Solombala. The main challenge of the port was finding enough work for the Arkhangelsk Admiralty. Over one-and-a-half centuries the main responsibilities of the port were carried out by fleet officers, who assumed the roles of chief port commander and port captain.

A decree from Ekaterina II in 1762 played a major role in altering the port’s circumstances: “The port-city of Arkhangelsk, with all its advantages and expediencies, is granted, in the same fashion as St. Petersburg, the full right to import and export all types of goods without suffering any hindrance, and we permit this to be carried out with the same freedom and tariffs as enjoyed by St. Petersburg and other cities”. Results were seen almost immediately. Marine trade revived and quickly gathered speed. Within ten years of the decree, 206 ships had visited the port. And thanks to the rapidly developing merchant marine trade, industrial activity in all the major northern Russian cities also increased substantially.

The possibility of sailing from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific through the northern latitudes of the Arctic Ocean excited many seamen around the world. However, it was the Russians who first equipped an expedition to the northern latitudes. The renowned Russian scholar and scientist Mikhail Lomonosov worked out a plan for an Arctic marine expedition. An order from Ekaterina II decreed: “In the interests of the promotion of seafaring and trade to the east, we consider it fitting to commit a search for a sea route through the Northern Ocean to Kamchatka”. Intensive preparations for the voyage began in Arkhangelsk . In 1765 and again in 1766, expeditions under the leadership of First-Captain V. Y. Chichagov were blocked by storm and polar-ice north-west of Spitzbergen, and both times returned to Arkhangelsk . Although failing to realize their goal, the expeditions sailed as far north as the previously unvisited latitude of 80 ° 30?. Three small wooden sailing-ships managed to survive the formidable forces of ice, storm and fog.

Four voyages were made to the hitherto unexplored archipelago of Novaya Zemlya by the specially-constructed brig the Novaya Zemlya under F. P. Litke between the years 1821 and 1824. The investigations of these islands by the geographer and future admiral, as described in his works, were of great importance.

Up until the mid-nineteenth century Arkhangelsk was the third-largest port in Russia in terms of cargo volume. Subsequently, however, trade declined due to the lack of railway communication with central Russia. Only the modernization of merchant navigation, and the construction of a narrow-gauge railroad to Arkhangelsk in 1898, gave new impetus to the port’s development. It was in these years also that the typical system of seaport management was established.

В An important stage in the making of the port of Arkhangelsk was the creation of a Department for Port Improvement, in 1887. Deepening of the port’s access channel was initiated in 1889. This channel deepening had a positive effect, for by 1900 the volume of cargo handled by the port had grown four-fold. Improvement of the port’s technical condition also stimulated local industrial production, primarily that from sawmills.

On April 25, 1904 the Arkhangelsk Commercial Port Administration was established. Count Konstantin Georgievich Tolstoy was named the first Port Administrator. On June 26, Tolstoy wrote his first order concerning the port. “Having on this day, in compliance with his Majesty’s order, been entrusted with the administration of the Arkhangelsk Commercial Port, I invite all officers of the port to work together for the benefit of our assigned tasks.“ On December 8, 1904 the first session of the newly-created Arkhangelsk Committee for Port Affairs met. Their first order of business was to discuss the acquisition of a much-needed port icebreaker. However the resolution of this question was put off until autumn 1908, when the port received the newly built icebreaker the Lebedin. Even such a small icebreaker as this one was able to prolong the navigational season in the port.

Yet another structure extremely important to the Arkhangelsk port appeared at the beginning of the twentieth century, in the form of mooring berths for both long-distance and coastal vessels. By summer 1907 the construction of granite-plated berths had been completed, fully meeting the technical requirements of the time. In the winter of 1908 a massive work program was put under way, with the aim of increasing port capacity. The program proposed the acquisition of a second dredging fleet, the construction of new workshops, refrigeration facilities, grain-storage elevators, and additional lighthouses and leading beacons. Plans were made to acquire a sea-going icebreaker, and a 40-tonne floating crane. The Sea Authority provided the money for the implementation of this program. Soon the port received 3- and 20-tonne cranes, and in the summer of 1913 acquired the 40-tonne crane. In 1911 the port acquired the second dredging fleet, consisting of one dredge and two steam scows.

The early years of the twentieth century were characterized by an unprecedented interest in the Arctic, as this was the only unexplored region left in the world. Summer 1912 witnessed intensive work in Arkhangelsk, as the first Russian expedition to the North Pole prepared for departure. This expedition was headed by Lieutenant Georgi Yakovevich Sedov. A solemn departure ceremony was held at the Sobornoy docks for the schooner St. Foka the Martyr and the expedition team on August 26, 1912. But to Russia ’s great disappointment Sedov was unable to reach the Pole. The unsuccessful St. Foka the Martyr arrived back in the Arkhangelsk port on September 5, 1914, leaving behind a dead Sedov on the ice on the way to the North Pole.

In 1915 two ships, the Taimir and the Vaigach, of the Hydrographic Expedition to the Arctic Ocean arrived in Arkhangelsk to a warm welcome. This expedition, under the leadership of B. A. Vilkitskovo, had over the course of two years traversed the Northern Sea Route from Vladivostok to Arkhangelsk, charting Russia ’s northern coastline along the way. The expedition also made the last major geographical discovery on the planet, visiting the archipelago of Nikolay II Land (now called Severnaya Zemlya ).

Arkhangelsk became the only open port in European Russia during World War I. The entire port was put on a war footing. Construction of one of the new port areas - Bakaritsy - had already begun by the end of 1914, and once completed, Bakaritsy quickly became the main base for handling military cargo. The downriver port of Ekonomiya was constructed during 1915 and 1916, with a view to prolonging navigation over the winter period. During the same time, Levy Bereg, another new area of the port near the railway station of the Arkhangelsk docks, was equipped. The re-outfitting of the railway line to Vologda to the wide-gauge system was completed in 1916. During these war years the cargo volume at the Arkhangelsk port reached unprecedented levels: in 1916, cargo volume was 2.8 million tonnes. By 1917 the port possessed 36 stationary and forward-moving cranes, 7 liners and 9 port icebreakers.

The October Revolution of 1917 and the subsequent civil war inflicted great injury upon the economy of northern Russia. For three years the port economy was in a great slump. As a result of the fighting, the harbour was severely polluted, the water depth of the navigational channel and at the docks was greatly reduced, and the size of the fleet declined sharply. Getting the port back on its feet again after the turbulence seemed a daunting task. But despite all difficulties the port slowly came back to life. Thirty-six foreign vessels arrived in the port of Arkhangelsk with the first navigational season folowing the civil war, and 8 Soviet vessels departed on journeys outside the country’s territory. Timber and timber-products of the North went for export, and the Arkhangelsk port handled 37.7% of the nation’s exported wood.

The latter half of the 1920’s witnessed a new era of opening up the Arctic. During 1929 and 1930 the ship Georgi Sedov was away on a voyage in the northern latitudes. The expedition was led by O. Y. Schmidt, and the ship’s captain was V. I. Voronin. This expedition established the very first Polar station, and the Red flag was hoisted on islands of the Arctic Ocean north of the Soviet Union . On June 28, 1932 the icebreaking ship A. Sibiryakov left from the Krasny (previously Sobornoy) docks, on a trans-Arctic journey. Under command of Captain Voronin, this ship completed the Northern Sea Route in a single navigational season, for the first time in mankind’s history. Lomonosov’s dream had finally been realized. A number of cargo ships also made this same trans-Arctic trip in one navigation in 1935, and in 1939 a return trans-Arctic trip was made. In this manner the possibility of exploiting the Northern Sea Route along its entire length was demonstrated. The Arkhangelsk port workers made a great contribution to the opening up of the Arctic, providing timely and efficient service to the Arctic-bound ships and icebreakers.

During the years of the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945) the Arkhangelsk seaport was once again of great strategic importance to the nation. In September 1941 the Council of People’s Commissars of the Soviet Union made the decision to support the year-round operation of the Arkhangelsk port. The handling capacity of the docks at Bakaritsy and Ekonomiya was increased by several times. Construction of a railroad branch line from Isakogorka to Ekonomiya was begun, as well as a rail-line to the Bakaritsy docks. On August 31, 1941 the port accepted the first Allied convoy (the “Dervish”). As the port of Murmansk was in a state of prepared evacuation due to impending attack by Hitler’s forces, Arkhangelsk handled the entire volume of cargo imported to the North during the second half of 1942. Over the entire war-period Arkhangelsk handled a million tonnes of strategic supplies. As many port workers were called to the front-lines, labour was in short supply. Underage workers filled this shortfall in workers. Sixteen-year-old boys worked as crane-operators, completing almost twice the amount of work expected of them.

Upon conclusion of the war the port required a complete overhaul. Many of the existing docks were of only temporary construction, having been installed during the conflict. The harbour once again needed substantial deepening.

However, thorough reconstruction of the facilities and equipment of the Arkhangelsk Commercial Seaport began only during the Seven Year Plan of 1959-1965. The first iron-and-concrete dock piles were pounded in during 1963, in the Bakaritsy port-area. Work began on clearing the river bottom of the wrecks and remains of ships sunk during 1916-1917. Reconstruction of the Bakaritsy port-area was completed by the mid-1970’s. A transfer terminal with 2,500 3-tonne and 5-tonne containers for one-time storage was constructed at this location.

A combined sea and river passenger terminal was opened in May 1972, in the center of Arkhangelsk. Its piers served passenger vessels, including vessels traveling along the popular tourist routes.

Reconstruction of the Ekonomiya port-area also began in 1972. Concrete berths No. 1 and 7 were constructed, as well as access roads, railway lines, and cargo areas. The entire transit complex of Berth No. 7, with its cargo storage area and rail-lines, was available for use by the time the 1977 navigational season began. The cargo-handling complex of Berth No. 6 became available for use in 1978, as did the container complex of Berth No. 1, which now had a capacity to handle 185,000 tonnes of cargo in ISO containers. Construction of a container terminal was also completed at Ekonomiya by 1980. Reconstruction of the port was carried out, to open it up to further potential. The challenge of dispatching an ever-increasing volume of Soviet cargo to the Arctic, to Dudinka (near Noril’sk), and destinations on the White Sea and Kara Sea was met every year. The Arkhangelsk Commercial Port achieved new success in cargo-handling, becoming state-of-the-art leaders in the field, implementing the most modern methods and technological processes in cargo-handling. Between 1970 and 1975, the volume of package- and container-handling nearly tripled.

As part of the reconstruction of port installations, the port refurbished its cargo-transfer handling system, called the “third shoulder of a stevedore”. Automated methods of cargo-handling gained more and more importance, with a mechanized complex transferring cargo from rail-wagon to ship. By January 1976, the port boasted 51 dockside cranes, 14 jib cranes, 101 forklifts, 29 electric loaders, 4 floating cranes, 195 automobiles, 19 tug-boats, 24 cutters, 5 water-carriers and 21 other vessels.

In1977 the Commercial Port switched to year-round navigation. Now even the most severe winter conditions no longer hinder shipping. Winter navigation in the port initially placed a heavy workload on the port fleet. Escorting transport ships to their berths, and mooring and casting-off required great effort. The immense volume of building and reconstruction work of the infrastructure along the riverbanks resulted in a significant extension of the general docking area. Albeit slowly, expansion of the Arkhangelsk seaport has continued over the past few years.

Over the period 1960-1990 cargo turnover in Russia’s oldest port increased from 2.8 million tonnes to 5.4 million tonnes. Timber products for export comprise roughly half of all cargo. The Arkhangelsk port also handles construction materials, grain, industrial equipment, and supply-cargo for the Arctic.

Over its history stretching back several centuries, the port of Arkhangelsk has made the journey from a modest beginning of Russian sea-trade in skins, canvas and furs, to a modern multi-profile port facility possessing a powerful infrastructure, capable of handling up to 4.5 million tonnes of cargo on a year-round basis.

Four hundred and twenty years ago Arkhangelsk was the sole link connecting Russia with the countries of Western Europe. Today this modern port, with its rich history and ancient traditions, stands at the start of the most prospective route from Europe to the countries of the Far East. And this Gateway to the North also opens the way to the mineral and fossil-fuel wealth of the Arctic.