Ukraine set to build modern deep-draft port on the Black Sea
Ukraine plans to create on the basis of the port of Yuzhny the most deep-water port on the Black Sea, Ukraine’s Ministry of Infrastructure said.
The Ministry has endorsed Yuzhny deep-water harbor project including the deepening of channels and port waters to 21 m.
"Our objective is to shift from offshore transshipments of general cargo to handling it at onshore terminals and to attract the maximum possible volume of general cargo of the entire Black Sea basin," says Deputy Minister of Infrastructure Konstantin Efimenko.
The project implementation will enable the new 21m-deep port of Yuzhny to accommodate 200,000dwt 19.4-draft ships, and to compete with its main rival on the Black Sea - Romanian port of Constanta, where water depth is 19 m. In addition, Yuzhny is a non-freezing port and features a developed railroad infrastructure.
State-run Yuzhny Merchant Sea Port founded in 1978 is located on the northwest coast of the Black Sea, in the ice-free Small Adzhalyksk (Grygoryivsky) estuary, 30 km northeast of Odessa. The Port is connected to the sea by a 3km-long 14-m-deep canal so pilotage service is required for inbound and outbound vessels. In 2010, Port of Yuzhny posted a 2.1% growth year-over-year to 18.22 million tons of different cargoes.