Short answers, pulled from the story.
The Great Port of Saint Petersburg's sea canal and Maritime Trade Port opened on the 15th of May 1885. The 32-kilometre channel from Kronstadt to Saint Petersburg had been under construction since 1869, when industrialist Nikolay Putilov began preparations.
Nikolay Putilov (1820-1880), a Russian naval officer, mathematician, engineer, metallurgist, and entrepreneur, initiated and contracted the construction of the Saint Petersburg sea canal in 1869. After his sudden death, the project was completed by his companions and S. P. Maksimovich, assisted by a Finland Swedish engineer.
The Great Port of Saint Petersburg covers a water area of 616.93 square kilometres. Its berthing front is 21.7 kilometres long with 147 berths, and the sea trade port section alone contains about 200 berths with depths of up to 11.9 metres.
The Port of Saint Petersburg handles oil products, metals, forest products, containers, coal, ore, chemical cargoes, and scrap metal. In January-February 2016, cargo turnover totalled 7.5 million tonnes.
Since 2011, the Port Authority of the Great Port of St. Petersburg, a state-owned federal government enterprise, has overseen commercial navigation in and beyond the port. It is responsible for designated areas of the Russian Federation.
Putilov was buried at his own request on the bank of the Ekateringofka River on Gladky Island, overlooking his factory and canal. His remains were moved in 1907 to the crypt of St. Nicholas Church on Stacheks Avenue, a church built by architect V. A. Kosyakov between 1901 and 1906. The grave was destroyed in 1951.