Removing bottlenecks in the South

To connect left and right shores

The Russian authorities has been tackling the regional transport problem, trying to provide the Crimea and southern Russia with efficient and high-speed passenger service. To solve the problem some experts have proposed to create a new entity similar to the United Transport Directorate, but the project's profitability raises doubts.

As the Crimea surrounded by two seas is isolated from Russia and is hard to reach through the territory of Ukraine by sustainable overland transport, it can be accessed by air or water. This makes water transport, efficient passenger service between the peninsula and Russia's southern region an urgent agenda. It is known that the Kerch ferry service fails to handle the current passenger and freight flows. Therefore, the organization of high-speed passenger lines between the ports of the Crimea, Sevastopol, Krasnodar Territory and the Republic of Adygea.

According to the calculations of the Russian Ministry of Transport, this will require 14 ships of the hydrofoil ferry Comet-120M or similar class, including four ships to be deployed on the Sochi-Novorossiysk-Yalta-Sevastopol line, three vessels to serve the Sochi-Tuapse-Gelendzhik-Anapa route, two vessels for operations on the Sochi-Tuapse-Novorossiysk and Anapa-Kerch-Feodosia-Yalta itineraries and three ships on the Yeisk-Temruk-Kerch-Yalta-Sevastopol line.

To remove the bottlenecks the transport authorities will need to build new fleet and to develop the infrastructure for the ferry lines. The transport authorities plan to reconstruct facilities of the Port of Feodosia infrastructure, to complete the construction of Pier No 2, which will help increase passenger traffic there to 200,000 people. Besides, since the port is exposed to impacts of waves and wind this will require the construction of expensive deep breakwater structures to ensure sustainable passenger traffic.

The ports of Eupatoria and Yalta also need the overhaul of port infrastructure to enable them to accommodate more passenger ships and increase passenger traffic to 200,000 people a year.

Reconstruction at the port of Sevastopol is expected to enhance intercity transport network with increasing passenger traffic to 600,000 people a year.

However, the question is left open, who will be the customer in the new fleet, as there are no large shipping companies in the Crimea specializing in passenger transport. So we will have to either attract private investment to purchase vessels, or do it at the expense of the federal budget, which in the current economic climate seems quite complicated. There is an idea of creation of an organization similar to the Kerch ferry line manager, the United Transport Directorate, that would be responsible for operation and maintenance of passenger ships.

However, for private investors the project of high-speed passenger lines will most likely be unprofitable due to high costs, problems with the international status of the Crimea, and accordingly, the borrowing of funds.

Moreover, once the construction of the bridge across the Kerch Strait is completed the availability of high-speed passenger service will not be a live issue  and the time will not be enough to pay off investment in the project.

Vitaly Chernov