Transit navigation in the Azov-Don Basin of inland water ways has been opened today, 1 April 2020, says press center of Azov-Don Basin Administration. Among the first ships passing through the Kochetkovsky hydrosystem was M/V Yapet owned by Prime Shipping LLC.
The navigation season of 2020 on the Lower Don is forecasted to feature low water level and low level in Tsimlyansky storage reservoir (just 32% of the normal level). Azov-Don Basin Administration expects 8.9 million tonnes of cargo to be transported during this navigation season.
It should be noted that amid favorable weather conditions, technical readiness of the waterway and hydraulic engineering structures and interest of shipping companies Federal Marine and River Transport Agency (Rosmorrechflot) approved opening of the transit navigation on the Lower Don river (between Volgodonsk and Aksay) ahead of schedule, on 24 March 2020.
19 vessels passed along the waterways of the Azov-Don Basin between March 24 and March 31, 2020.
The Federal Azov-Don Basin Authority is responsible for management and control of inland waterways of the Don River Don from the lower access channel of Lock No 15 (Tsimlyansk Reservoir) to the village of Aksai (the 3121-km stretch of the Don), except for Nikolayevsky and the Konstantinovsky hydroengineering facilities, and the tributaries of the Don River, Seversky Donets (from Krasny farm to the mouth) and the Manych River (from the Novo-Manychskaya Dam to the river mouth). The total length of the Azov-Don Basin Administration managed inland waterways reaches 691.3 km.