Ukraine will start dredging the Bystre estuary

Ukraine plans to increase the draft of vessels in the Bystre Danube estuary to 7.2 meters.

In 2023, Ukraine plans to start dredging the mouth of the Bystre Danube to 7.2 meters. This was announced at the Grain Ukraine conference by the Deputy Minister of Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development of Ukraine Yurii Vaskov.

Ukraine considers it expedient to increase the draft of ships to 7.2 meters. However, dredging works will be carried out only after coordination with the European Commission and Romanian partners, in compliance with international conventions, the Ministry noted.

It will be recalled that after the deoccupation of Zmiinyi Island, the Bystre estuary of the Danube was unblocked. Before that, Ukraine used only the Romanian channel Sulina. During its passage, ships were idle in queues for many months.

When the Bystre estuary was unblocked, the maximum draft of the channel was 3.9 meters. Soon, Ukraine was able to increase the depth to 6.5 meters in the section from Reni to the Black Sea. This made it possible to increase the number of ship calls to 12 and the volume of cargo turnover to 90 thousand tons per day already at the beginning of March. By the end of March, the average daily number of ship calls had already reached 16.

Previously, USM wrote that this year Ukraine plans to process at least 20 million tons through the Danube.