Vanino

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Vanino (Russian: Ва́нино) is an urban-type settlement in Khabarovsk Krai, Russia, an important port on the Strait of Tartary (part of Sea of Japan), served by the BAM railway line. Population: 18,900 (2005 estimate).

Vanino is located some 15 km north (straight-line distance) from Sovetskaya Gavan, but the actual road distance is about twice as much, as the sea coast is highly indented.

[edit] History

Vanin Bay on the Strait of Tartary was named after a topographer who worked in a team that prepared maps of the coast in 1874.

The Vanino Harbor, then considered part of Sovetskaya Gavan, became connected with the rest of the USSR by the railway from Komsomolsk-na-Amure, which was started in 1943 and completed in 1945. That caused quick growth of the port in Vanino Harbor.

In 1958, Vanino was administratively separated from Sovetskaya Gavan, becoming a urban-type settlement. In 1973, it became the administrative center of the newly created Vanino District.

[edit] The port of Vanino

During the 1940s, Vanino, along with Vladivostok, was a major port for shipping convicts from the "mainland" USSR to Magadan, the port for the Kolyma Gulag labor camps.

In post-Stalin era, the importance of the port continued to increase, as it provided the shortest connection to the seaports of Russian north-east. The cargo volumes handled by the port peaked in 1989, at 11.5 million tons. In 2005, the volume was 6.2 million tons.

Since 1973, an icebreaker rail ferry service from Vanino to Kholmsk provides a connection between Sakhalin and the Russian mainland.