Ukrainian Danube Shipping launches a “Danube Grain Route”

“Ukrainian Danube Shipping” reacted to russia’s withdrawal from the Grain Agreement by launching the “Danube Grain Route” project.

The “Danube Grain Route” provides for the delivery of agricultural products by barges from a river port on the Danube immediately to a large-tonnage sea vessel at the port road in Romania. The entire logistics chain is carried out and controlled by the UDS.

Due to the faster process of loading and unloading, the average turnover time of the caravan will be reduced by approximately 30%. Cargo owners will no longer have to suffer financial losses due to long waits in line at the terminal.

An important component of the project is equipping ships with online control systems, video surveillance and increasing the number of shipmasters in the crew. This significantly increases the efficiency of the fleet. According to UDP forecasts, in the future the barge caravan will be able to make up to two trips per month.

“Back in the summer, we predicted that russia could try to disrupt the “Grain Initiative” at any moment. That is why we persistently and systematically developed our project “Danube Grain Route”, – said the the UDS CEO Dmytro Moskalenko.

In particular, UDS invested in the creation of its own grain transshipment. The company also agreed with its Romanian partners – the TTS group of companies – on a faster and more efficient transshipment scheme at the port of Constanţa.

At the second stage of the implementation of the “Danube Grain Route” project, the construction of new barges is planned, because steamships have actually exhausted the possibility of increasing “tonnage”. In addition, the modernization of traction will soon begin – the overhaul of the self-propelled fleet with the replacement of engines.

“The leadership of the Ministry of Infrastructure fundamentally supported our proposals. Ukrainian Danube Shipping proposes to send the lion’s share of this year’s profit (after taxes and dividends) to development programs. After all, the situation requires quick actions and concrete results,” said Moskalenko.

In the near future, the shipping industry also plans to direct efforts to attract international investors to its projects.