Russia plans to build a new export terminal capable of shipping 18 million tons of coal a year via the Barents Sea by 2018, Murmansk Region Governor Marina Kovtun said on Monday.

The Lavna terminal at the Murmansk port will be built on the western coast of the Kolskiy bay to provide a cheaper route of coal shipments to Europe.

The Murmansk port has obvious competitive advantages as it is a deepwater facility that has direct access to the sea and does not freeze, Kovtun said.

“Today this is a truly strategic port for Russia,” she said.