The Ukrferry shipping company (Odessa), which is Ukraine’s national ferry company, has introduced a winter surcharge (WSC) on transportation of loaded railcars on the Varna (Bulgaria)-Batumi (Georgia) route. The press service of the shipping company announced this in a statement.
The surcharge of USD 100 per railcar (excluding railcars for which special tariffs are agreed) will be effective until March 31, 2014. Navigation in this direction is performed all year round.
Trips from Varna to Batumi (the return trip through Ilyichevsk) are performed once a week, and the average crossing time from Bulgaria to Turkey is 60 hours. The Heroes of Sevastopol ferry transports railcars (including railcars with hazardous and OOG cargo), trucks, passenger cars, caterpillar-mounted machinery, as well as palletized and non-palletized deck cargoes aboard.
The Ukrferry shipping company was founded in 1995. It operates the Ilyichevsk-Poti/Batumi, Ilyichevsk-Varna, Ilyichevsk-Derince, Kerch-Poti/Batumi, and Varna-Poti/Batumi ferry services. The shipping company's fleet includes ferries, dry-cargo vessels, and ro/ro cargo vessels. As reported, WSC was introduced on the Ilyichevsk-Poti/Batumi line last winter, and it remained effective until April 15. The carrier used the funds generated from it to finance anti-icing measures.
