The Ukrainian Seaports Authority (USPA) has announced the launch of a multimodal transport route between the port of Karasu (Turkey) and Slawków (Poland) via Chornomorsk.
Viacheslav Voronyi, the director of the USPA’s department of port operations, announced this on Tuesday at the international conference "The Black Sea – Baltic Sea Multimodal Transport Route: Development, Strategy, and Projects," which is taking place as part of the Ukrainian Ports Forum 2021, the CFTS portal reports.
According to Voronyi, containers will be transported by ferry from the Turkish port to Chornomorsk and then by rail to the multimodal terminal in Slawków, from where they will be transported to Scandinavian and Northern European countries.
"A test batch of 25 containers has already been sent from Chornomorsk," Voronyi said.
According to him, the entire route between Karasu and Slawków takes four days to complete and the cost of transporting a container is EUR 1,500.
"The next stage involves expansion of up to two routes between the terminals and the third stage involves transportation of automobile containers without a tractor," he said.
Voronyi also stressed that the delivery time to the northern seaports on this route is the same as the delivery time through the ports on the Adriatic Sea, but it is cheaper.
"To facilitate the launch of this route, the USPA reconstructed the railway track in the port of Chornomorsk in record time, the Ukrainian Railways prepared the necessary railway infrastructure, and the Ministry of Infrastructure prepared a draft law on multimodal transport," he said.
As the CFTS portal reported, the Ukrainian Railways joint-stock company (Ukrzaliznytsia) announced in February this year that it planned to launch a service involving transportation of semi-trailers from Chornomorsk on the Polish broad-gauge railway. The start of regular services on the route was scheduled for the first quarter of 2021. In addition to Chornomorsk and Slawków, the route includes the Turkish port of Karasu.
