Ukraine expands the possibility of the passage of ships on the Danube

From now on, ships with a draft of 6.5 meters can pass through the Bystry mouth of the Danube River. This was announced by the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine on its Facebook page on Friday, February 17.

According to the order dated February 16, issued by the port of Izmail, the passing draft of ships in the section from the 0th kilometer of the mouth of the Bystroye Danube River to the 77th kilometer of the mouth of the Kiliya is 6.5 meters , and from the 77th kilometer to the 116th km of the Kiliya mouth – 7 meters.

It was noted that at the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the maximum draft was only 3.9 meters.

The Danube port cluster has significantly developed its export capacity over the past year. Since March 2022 alone, cargo transshipment at the ports of Izmail, Reni and Ust-Dunaysk has tripled. In general, more than 3 million tons of products were exported from them, including more than 17 million tons of food.

“Such dynamics and still having export problems through the ports make the infrastructure development of the Danube region a priority for our work. As part of this work and thanks to the success of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Black Sea, we have We have opened the mouth of Bystroye for shipping, increased the potential for transshipment of ports. We also continue dredging work on the Ukrainian side of the Danube, “said Oleksandr Kubrakov, Minister for development of Communities, Territories and Infrastructure.

According to him, it is possible to increase the permissible draft of ships for the first time under independent Ukraine. This became possible due to the elimination of the consequences of drifting, the removal of sediment from the land, the elimination of riffles and the restoration of passport characteristics within the waters of Ukrainian ports .

“Thanks to this, we can ensure better and safer navigation between the Black Sea and the Danube River, as well as an increase in cargo traffic in the Danube ports,” the minister insisted.

Earlier it was reported that Ukraine increased grain exports along the Danube by 42 times. The ports of Izmail, Reni and Ust-Dunaysk on the Danube River in January-November 2022 increased the volume of cargo transshipment by 2.9 times compared to the same period in 2021.

Last November, Ukraine launched the Danube Grain Route. The project provides for the transportation of Ukrainian agricultural products to the Romanian port of Constanta.