On April 4, 2018, NIBULON completed the next stage of dredging operations on the Southern Buh River. Despite the adverse weather conditions, low temperature, and wind, the dredging operations have been performed according to schedule. According to the company, the dredging has been finished before spawning, as promised. The operations have been performed by Mykolaivets self-propelled dredger. The dredger was constructed last year at NIBULON shipbuilding and repair yard to deepen the Dnipro River, the Southern Buh River, as well as water areas of ports and terminals in order to ensure effective operation of the company’s fleet.
On December 30, 2017, the company started operations on Kostiantynivka sandbar (the largest limiting sandbar of the Southern Buh River) in the area from Voznesensk to Mykolaiv. As it was planned, NIBULON managed to increase the working depth of navigable path from 2 m to 2.5 m. Total length of the dredging area on the sandbar is 2.3 km.
The dredging operations will enable the company to load the non-self-propelled B2000 project vessels that were designed for operation on the Southern Buh River to their full load, thereby reducing the number of cargo trips and transportation costs. In addition, this will free the company’s tugs and non-self-propelled vessels to perform other cargo trips.
On June 15, NIBULON plans to start dredging the Dnipro River with a total volume of up to 500 thousand cubic meters of soil during the construction process of NIBULON’s new transshipment terminals in Zaporizhzhia and Dnipropetrovsk regions. From mid-September, Mykolaivets will return to the Southern Buh River and complete the dredging in the area from Nova Odesa to Voznesensk in order to ensure a depth of the navigable pass of 2.4 m.
At the same time with dredging works, the Institute of Fisheries of the National Academy of Agrarian Sciences of Ukraine performs covering monitoring of dredging. According to the results, there are performed compensatory measures. Fish stocking is the main method of such measures. In 2016-2017, the company stocked the Southern Buh River with fish in order to renovate fish resources in the amount of UAH 411,422 (395,910 units). Of course, these measures will have a positive effect to preserve the unique nature of the Southern Buh River.