September 27 2004, 10:43 SeaNews

New facility built on Turkish end of Ukrainian-Turkish rail ferry link

According to SeaNews agency, construction of the first line of railway-ferry bridge, within the framework of bilateral project of rail ferry connection between Ukraine and Turkey (Ilyichevsk - Derinje), has been completed in the Turkish port of Derinje. The project has been realised by the marine transportation company Ukrferry - the operator of rail ferry services Bulgaria-Ukraine-Georgia and Ukraine-Turkey - and by Turkish company Bativagon - the partner of Ukrferry in the port of Derinje.

The project has been carried out according to the plan of the Organisation for Black Sea Economic Cooperation for creation of the ferry ring along the Black Sea shores. The Ukrainian party has taken on the organisational and maintenance costs, related to functioning of the rail ferry link.

According to the news agency, the planned frequency of the services on this line is four circumferential voyages per month. The capacity of terminal [in the port of Derinje] is 90 railcars per vessel call.

The completion of the project is scheduled until the end of 2006. It will include three additional facilities for handling special-purpose rail rolling stock - for grain loads, fertilisers and liquefied natural gas. The total worth of the project is $3 million; the planned period of the investment return is 6 years.

The state-owned port Derinje is a constituent part of the company "Turkish State Railways" - the multi-modal transportation firm, operating both the railway and the seaports.

The rail ferry link Ilyichevsk-Derinje, served by the vessels of Ukrferry, has been in operation since 2001. The yearly load turnover in 2003 was 172,000 tonnes (77 percent up from 2002). Before the bridge has been built, the operations in Derinje were being carried out under the "railcar-lorry" scheme, which incurred additional financial costs and time losses.