The Chornomorsk-Poti ferry service is 20 years old. Ferries have transported more than 17 million tons of cargo over the 20 years. Oleksandr Kurliand, the head of the Ukrferry shipping company, which operates on this route, announced this.

Ukrferry performed a test trip from Ukraine to Georgia in 1994. Then, the company transported 60 rail tanks of butadiene belonging to the Nairit company (Armenia) from Chornomorsk to Batumi. The official opening of the Ukraine-Georgia ferry line took place in December 1996, when the "Heroes of Shipka" ferry made its first trip from Poti to Chornomorsk.

"In 20 years of operation, the ferry has transported more than 17 million tons of cargo. Its importance to realization of Ukraine’s transport potential and development of trade between Europe and the countries in the Caucasus and Central Asia is constantly increasing. The line is acquiring particular importance because of China’s ‘One Belt, One Road’ project, in which the Celestial Empire plans to invest billions of dollars," Kurliand said.

Ukrferry recently announced a fall in the volume of rail-ferry transportation from Ukraine to Bulgaria. The company transported only 27 railcars from January to September this year.