Ukraine: Ilyichevsk Port Identifies Dredging as Key Project

The key project at the Ilyichevsk seaport (Odessa region) in the coming years will be dredging the approach channel to the port and the port’s waters to 15 meters, and, if necessary, to 17 meters in in the future. The port’s board approved this priority in the Plan for Development of the Port until 2038, the press service of the Ministry of Infrastructure announced.

The dredging will allow safe pilotage, maneuvering, mooring, and subsequent handling of large-tonnage vessels of the Capesize class with carrying capacities of over 100,000 tons and container vessels of the Post Panamax Plus class with a capacity of 8,000 TEU at the port’s berths, the ministry said.

“Even today, the port is losing its competitive position and significantly losing to its main competitors – the ports of Constanta (Romania), Novorossiysk (Russia), and Yuzhny (Ukraine) – in terms of depth. We took into account all the wishes of both our current partners and potential investors, for which the relevant depth represents the ability to optimize the cost of freight,” the port’s head Oleksii Koshelev is quoted as saying in a press release.

In addition, development of the port’s hydraulic facilities is planned. Its berths will be gradually reconstructed through public-private partnership. The date of commencement of the work will be determined after adoption of decisions on reconstruction of port’s stevedoring facilities.

The plan for development of the port also provides for reconstruction of its power supply systems, including construction of a new step-down power substation at the port.

At a meeting of the seaport’s board, representatives of the sea terminals and companies engaging in export-import operations at the port decided to develop the intra-port road infrastructure, the automobile access roads to the port, and the Ilyichevsk Port train station.

[mappress]

Press Release, December 18, 2013