The Odessa seaport made changes to the procedures for customs clearance of containers on 6 May 2014, the Interfax Ukraine news agency reports, citing the press service of the seaport. Specifically, all container trucks on internal customs transit (at Ukraine’s domestic customs) and international customs transit will be subjected to X-ray scans.
In the absence of a mobile X-ray unit or its failure, this form of inspection will be replaced by partial inspection of containers by state regulatory agencies, which is specifically the reason that the port cites for the increase in the average length of time that vehicles spend at the port.
"Currently, one X-ray installation has been provided for scanning containerized cargo at the port. This is insufficient to meet the established time requirements, given the volume of goods that currently passes through the port. The issue of increasing or reducing the percentage of containers inspected (X-rayed) is the exclusive competence of the state regulatory authorities,” the seaport said.
There were no restrictions on entry into the port as of the morning of May 8.
A single mobile X-ray unit is capable of scanning more than 100 containers per day, but the average volume of cargo handled at the Odessa seaport that is subject to scanning ranges from 250-270 per day.
The Odessa seaport is capable of handling more than 14 million tons of dry and 24 million tons of liquid cargo per year. The port handles ships with lengths of up to 270 meters and a draft of up to 13 meters. The total length of its mooring line exceeds 8 kilometers.
