The Kerch Strait, uk, Керченська протока, crh, Keriç boğazı, ady, Хы ТӀуалэ is a
strait in
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russia, whic ...
. It connects the
Black Sea
The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Rom ...
and the
Sea of Azov, separating the
Kerch Peninsula
The Kerch Peninsula is a major and prominent geographic peninsula located at the eastern end of the Crimean Peninsula, Ukraine.
This peninsula stretches eastward toward the Taman peninsula between the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea. Most of the pe ...
of
Crimea
Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a pop ...
in the west from the
Taman Peninsula
The Taman Peninsula (russian: Тама́нский полуо́стров, ''Tamanskiy poluostrov'') is a peninsula in the present-day Krasnodar Krai of Russia, which borders the Sea of Azov to the North, the Strait of Kerch to the West and the ...
of
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...
's
Krasnodar Krai
Krasnodar Krai (russian: Краснода́рский край, r=Krasnodarsky kray, p=krəsnɐˈdarskʲɪj kraj) is a federal subject of Russia (a krai), located in the North Caucasus region in Southern Russia and administratively a part of ...
in the east. The strait is to wide and up to deep. The most important harbor, the Crimean city of
Kerch
Kerch ( uk, Керч; russian: Керчь, ; Old East Slavic: Кърчевъ; Ancient Greek: , ''Pantikápaion''; Medieval Greek: ''Bosporos''; crh, , ; tr, Kerç) is a city of regional significance on the Kerch Peninsula in the east of t ...
, gives its name to the strait, formerly known as the Cimmerian Bosporus. It has also been called the Straits of Yenikale after the
Yeni-Kale fortress in Kerch.
Taman, the most important settlement on the Taman Peninsula side of the strait, sits on
Taman Bay
The Taman Bay ( Russian: Таманский залив) is a shallow bay or gulf on the east coast of the Strait of Kerch shaped on the southern side by the Tuzla Spit and to the north by the Chushka Spit. It dips into the Taman Peninsula of Kras ...
, which is separated from the main Kerch Strait by the
Chushka Spit
__NOTOC__
The Chushka Spit (russian: Коса Чушка) is a sandy spit in the northern part of the Strait of Kerch which extends from Cape Achilleion to the south-west in the direction of the Black Sea for almost . Administratively, it belong ...
to the north and the former
Tuzla Spit
__NOTOC__
Tuzla Spit or Kosa Tuzla (russian: Тузлинская коса, Коса Тузла, uk, Коса Тузла) was a long narrow peninsula or sandy spit in the eastern part of the Strait of Kerch which extended from Фотога ...
to the south; the Tuzla Spit is now
Tuzla Island
Tuzla Island (, , crh, Тузла; from Turkish "tuzla" – salty, saline, literally: ''saltpan'') is a sandy islet in the form of a spit located in the middle of the Strait of Kerch between the Kerch Peninsula in the west and the Taman Pe ...
, connected to the Taman Peninsula by a 2003 Russian-built dam, and to mainland Crimea by the
Crimean Bridge
The Crimean Bridge ( rus, Крымский мост, r=Krymskiy most, p=ˈkrɨmskʲij most), also called Kerch Strait Bridge or Kerch Bridge, is a pair of parallel bridges, one for a four-lane road and one for a double-track railway, spanning t ...
opened in 2018. A major cargo port is under construction near Taman.
History
Greek and Roman records
The straits are about long and are wide at the narrowest and separate an eastern extension of
Crimea
Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a pop ...
from
Taman, the westernmost extension of the
Caucasus Mountains
The Caucasus Mountains,
: pronounced
* hy, Կովկասյան լեռներ,
: pronounced
* az, Qafqaz dağları, pronounced
* rus, Кавка́зские го́ры, Kavkázskiye góry, kɐfˈkasːkʲɪje ˈɡorɨ
* tr, Kafkas Dağla ...
. In
antiquity, there seem to have been a group of islands intersected by arms of the
Kuban River
The Kuban; Circassian: Псыжъ, ''Psyẑ'' or Псыжь, ''Psyź'' ; abq, Къвбина, ''Q̇vbina'' ; Karachay–Balkar: Къобан, ''Qoban''; Nogai: Кобан, ''Qoban'') is a river in Russia that flows through the Western Cauca ...
(''Hypanis'') and various
sounds
In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave, through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid.
In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by the ...
which have since silted up.
The Romans knew the strait as the Cimmerian Bosporus (') from its Greek name, the Cimmerian Strait (, ''Kimmérios Bosporos''), which honored the
Cimmerians
The Cimmerians (Akkadian: , romanized: ; Hebrew: , romanized: ; Ancient Greek: , romanized: ; Latin: ) were an ancient Eastern Iranian equestrian nomadic people originating in the Caspian steppe, part of whom subsequently migrated into Wes ...
, nearby
steppe nomads
A nomad is a member of a community without fixed habitation who regularly moves to and from the same areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and trader nomads. In the twentieth century, the po ...
. In ancient times the low-lying land near the
Strait was known as the
Maeotic Swamp The Maeotic Swamp was the name formerly given to the swampy land surrounding the Strait of Kerch, which joins the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea
The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and A ...
.
Second World War
During the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
, the Kerch Peninsula became the scene of much desperate combat between forces of the
Soviet
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army ( Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, afte ...
and
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
. Fighting frequency intensified in the coldest months of year when the strait froze over, allowing the movement of troops over the ice.
After the
Eastern Front stabilized in early 1943,
Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
ordered the construction of a road-and-rail bridge across the Strait of Kerch in the spring of 1943 to support his desire for a renewed offensive to the Caucasus. The cable railway (
aerial tramway
An aerial tramway, sky tram, cable car, ropeway, aerial tram, telepherique, or seilbahn is a type of aerial lift which uses one or two stationary ropes for support while a third moving rope provides propulsion. With this form of lift, the grip ...
), which went into operation on 14 June 1943 with a daily capacity of one thousand tons, was only adequate for the defensive needs of the
Seventeenth Army in the
Kuban bridgehead
The Kuban Bridgehead (german: Kuban-Brückenkopf), also known as the "Goth's head position" (), was a German military position on the Taman Peninsula, Russia, between the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea. Existing from January to October 1943, the ...
. Because of frequent
earth tremors, this bridge would have required vast quantities of extra-strength
steel girders, and their transport would have curtailed shipments of military material to the Crimea. The bridge was never completed, and the
Wehrmacht
The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the '' Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previo ...
finished evacuating the Kuban bridgehead in September 1943.
In 1944 the Soviets built a "provisional" railway bridge (
Kerch railway bridge
The Kerch railway bridge ( rus, Керченский железнодорожный мост), also called the Kerch Bridge (russian: Керченский мост), was a short-lived Soviet Union, Soviet Russian SFSR, Russian railway bridge acro ...
) across the strait. Construction made use of supplies captured from the Germans. The bridge went into operation in November 1944, but moving ice floes destroyed it in February 1945; reconstruction was not attempted.
Post-war ferry service
After the war,
ferry transportation across the strait was established in 1954, connecting
Crimea
Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a pop ...
and the
Krasnodar Krai
Krasnodar Krai (russian: Краснода́рский край, r=Krasnodarsky kray, p=krəsnɐˈdarskʲɪj kraj) is a federal subject of Russia (a krai), located in the North Caucasus region in Southern Russia and administratively a part of ...
(
Port Krym
Port Krym (russian: Порт Крым, uk, Порт Крим, crh, Qırım Limanı - literally ''Port Crimea'') is a port in Crimea. It is located on the western shore of Kerch Strait, in the north-eastern part of Kerch city near a settlement ...
–
Port Kavkaz
A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...
line). Originally there were four
train ferry
A train ferry is a ship (ferry) designed to carry railway vehicles. Typically, one level of the ship is fitted with railway tracks, and the vessel has a door at the front and/or rear to give access to the wharves. In the United States, train ...
ships; later three car-ferry ships were added. Train transportation continued for almost 40 years. The aging train-ferries became obsolete in the late 1980s and were removed from service. In the autumn of 2004, new ships were delivered as replacements and train transportation was re-established. The ferry line stopped operations in late 2020.
Dispute and naval treaty of 2003
A territorial dispute between Russia and Ukraine in 2003 centred on
Tuzla Island
Tuzla Island (, , crh, Тузла; from Turkish "tuzla" – salty, saline, literally: ''saltpan'') is a sandy islet in the form of a spit located in the middle of the Strait of Kerch between the Kerch Peninsula in the west and the Taman Pe ...
in the Strait of Kerch. Ukraine and Russia
agreed to treat the strait and the Azov Sea as shared internal waters.
Storm of November 2007
On Sunday 11 November 2007 news agencies reported a very strong storm on the
Black Sea
The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Rom ...
. Four ships sank, six ran aground on a sandbank, and two tankers were damaged, resulting in a major oil spill and the death of 23 sailors.
The Russian-flagged
oil tanker
An oil tanker, also known as a petroleum tanker, is a ship designed for the bulk transport of oil or its products. There are two basic types of oil tankers: crude tankers and product tankers. Crude tankers move large quantities of unrefined cru ...
''Volgoneft-139'' encountered trouble in the Kerch Strait where it sought shelter from the above storm. During the storm the tanker split in half, releasing more than 2000
tonne
The tonne ( or ; symbol: t) is a unit of mass equal to 1000 kilograms. It is a non-SI unit accepted for use with SI. It is also referred to as a metric ton to distinguish it from the non-metric units of the short ton ( United State ...
s of fuel oil. Four other boats sank in the storm, resulting in the release of sulphur cargo. The storm hampered efforts to rescue crew members.
Another victim of the storm, the Russian cargo ship ''Volnogorsk'', loaded with sulfur, sank at
Port Kavkaz
A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...
on the same day.
Russo-Ukrainian War since 2014
![Kertši väin](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/70/Kert%C5%A1i_v%C3%A4in.jpg)
Russia and Ukraine agreed to guarantee each other freedom of navigation for ships of both nations in a
2003 naval treaty.
Since the start of the
Russo-Ukrainian War
The Russo-Ukrainian War; uk, російсько-українська війна, rosiisko-ukrainska viina. has been ongoing between Russia (alongside Russian separatists in Ukraine) and Ukraine since February 2014. Following Ukraine's Rev ...
and the
annexation of Crimea in 2014, however, Russian forces have forcibly established a new status quo, now being the straits' sole controlling power.
New Bridge and naval blockade
Moscow mayor
Yuri Luzhkov Yuri may refer to:
People and fictional characters
Given name
*Yuri (Slavic name), the Slavic masculine form of the given name George, including a list of people with the given name Yuri, Yury, etc.
* Yuri (Japanese name), also Yūri, feminine Ja ...
campaigned for a highway bridge to be constructed across the strait. Since 1944, various bridge projects to span the strait have been proposed or attempted, always hampered by the difficult geologic and geographic configuration of the area. Construction of an approach was actually started in 2003 with the -long dam, provoking the 2003
Tuzla Island
Tuzla Island (, , crh, Тузла; from Turkish "tuzla" – salty, saline, literally: ''saltpan'') is a sandy islet in the form of a spit located in the middle of the Strait of Kerch between the Kerch Peninsula in the west and the Taman Pe ...
conflict.
After the
2014 Russian annexation of Crimea
In February and March 2014, Russia invaded and subsequently annexed the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine. This event took place in the aftermath of the Revolution of Dignity and is part of the wider Russo-Ukrainian War.
The events in Kyiv th ...
the government of Russia decided to build a bridge across the Kerch Strait. The 19-kilometre
Crimean Bridge
The Crimean Bridge ( rus, Крымский мост, r=Krymskiy most, p=ˈkrɨmskʲij most), also called Kerch Strait Bridge or Kerch Bridge, is a pair of parallel bridges, one for a four-lane road and one for a double-track railway, spanning t ...
opened to road traffic in 2018 and the rail section opened in 2019.
Russian state-backed media claims that construction of the bridge caused increases in nutrients and planktons in the waters, attracting large numbers of fish and more than 1,000 of endangered Black Sea
bottlenose dolphins. However, Ukraine claims that the acoustic noise and pollution from both the bridge construction and military exercises may actually be killing Black Sea dolphins.
Kerch Strait incident (2018)
When two Ukrainian navy vessels tried to pass under the bridge to reach Mariupol in November 2018, Russian forces responded by blocking the straits with a large container ship. Upon turning back, the Ukrainian ships and crews were fired upon and seized by the Russian coast guard.
2019 Gas tanker disaster
Two gas carriers collided and exploded in 2019, killing 14 people.
2021 closure by Russia
On 15 April 2021 Russia decided to close the area of Kerch Strait to "warships and other state vessels" from 24 April to 31 October. The stated rationale for the closure are
military exercises
A military exercise or war game is the employment of military resources in training for military operations, either exploring the effects of warfare or testing strategies without actual combat. This also serves the purpose of ensuring the comb ...
.
The closure partially cut off the Ukrainian ports of
Berdyansk
Berdiansk or Berdyansk ( uk, Бердя́нськ, translit=Berdiansk, ; russian: Бердя́нск, translit=Berdyansk ) is a port city in the Zaporizhzhia Oblast (province) in south-eastern Ukraine. It is on the northern coast of the Sea o ...
and
Mariupol
Mariupol (, ; uk, Маріу́поль ; russian: Мариу́поль) is a city in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. It is situated on the northern coast ( Pryazovia) of the Sea of Azov, at the mouth of the Kalmius River. Prior to the 2022 Russia ...
from the Black Sea. The
Ukrainian Foreign Ministry protested against the decision, stating that "such actions by the Russian Federation are another attempt to violate the norms and principles of international law to usurp the sovereign rights of Ukraine as a coastal state, as Ukraine has the right to regulate navigation in these areas of the Black Sea".
According to the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, the decision is a violation of the
freedom of navigation
Freedom of navigation (FON) is a principle of law of the sea that ships flying the flag of any sovereign state shall not suffer interference from other states, apart from the exceptions provided for in international law. In the realm of internat ...
under the
UN Convention on the Law of the Sea
The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), also called the Law of the Sea Convention or the Law of the Sea Treaty, is an international agreement that establishes a legal framework for all marine and maritime activities. , 167 c ...
.
The decision to close the strait was preceded by Russia's warning the United States after the
Biden administration
Joe Biden's tenure as the 46th president of the United States began with his inauguration on January 20, 2021. Biden, a Democrat from Delaware who previously served as vice president under Barack Obama, took office following his victory ...
's plan to send two
destroyers (
USS ''Roosevelt'' and
USS ''Donald Cook'') to the Black Sea amid Russia's increasing military presence near Ukraine. The Biden administration withheld the destroyers after fighting intensified between Ukrainian and Russian-backed separatist forces in an effort to alleviate the tension.
Putin had threatened the safety of the US Navy ships, saying that they should stay away from the area “for their own good”. After the destroyers were withheld, Russia took advantage of the opening to close the Kerch Strait.
2021 Donbass ship
On 9 December 2021
Ukrainian command ship ''Donbas'' departed from
Mariupol
Mariupol (, ; uk, Маріу́поль ; russian: Мариу́поль) is a city in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. It is situated on the northern coast ( Pryazovia) of the Sea of Azov, at the mouth of the Kalmius River. Prior to the 2022 Russia ...
and approached Kerch Strait. It didn't give a notice in advance to pass the strait and was warned by Russian coast guard such a notice should be given for the safety of maritime traffic. At the moment around 80 civilian ships were waiting to pass the strait.
2022 Crimean Bridge Explosion
In the morning of 8 October 2022 at 06:07 (Moscow time), an explosion occurred on the road portion of the Crimean Bridge, causing major damage. Seven fuel cars of a passing railway train also ignited, causing an extensive fire on the parallel rail bridge, and two half-sections of the road bridge collapsed.
Kerch–Yenikale Canal
In order to improve navigational capabilities of the Strait of Kerch, which is quite shallow in its narrowest point, the
Kerch–Yenikale Canal was dredged through the strait. The main channel can accommodate vessels up to 215 meters long with a
draft
Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to:
Watercraft dimensions
* Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel
* Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail
* Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a vesse ...
of up to 8 meters with a compulsory
pilot
An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...
assistance. The canal is not straight, and its geometry further complicates safe navigation. The narrowness, limited depth, and turns of the main channel together with the often unpredictable effects of wind and visibility (fog) mean that there are strict procedures regulating strait transit. Transit of large vessels occurs on a one-way (alternating) group convoy basis. Transit procedures have remained unchanged, whether under Soviet, Ukrainian, or Russian jurisdiction. The Vessel Traffic Control Post in Kerch controls and oversees all traffic.
Fishing
Several fish-processing plants are located on the Crimean coast of the strait. The fishing season begins in late autumn and lasts for 2 to 3 months, when many
seiner
A fishing vessel is a boat or ship used to catch fish in the sea, or on a lake or river. Many different kinds of vessels are used in commercial, artisanal and recreational fishing.
The total number of fishing vessels in the world in 2016 was es ...
s put out into the strait to fish. The
Taman Bay
The Taman Bay ( Russian: Таманский залив) is a shallow bay or gulf on the east coast of the Strait of Kerch shaped on the southern side by the Tuzla Spit and to the north by the Chushka Spit. It dips into the Taman Peninsula of Kras ...
is a major fishing ground, with many fishing villages scattered along the coast.
See also
*
Kerch Strait incident
*
2019 Kerch Strait liquified gas tanker fire
Notes
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kerch Strait
Straits of Crimea
Bodies of water of the Black Sea
Kerch Peninsula
Straits of Russia
Strait
International straits
Russia–Ukraine border
Geography of Krasnodar Krai