Kerch Strait Ferry, satellite image, 2018-03-05

The Kerch Strait ferry line (russian: Керченская паромная переправа (also, переправа «Крым — Кавказ»), uk, Керченська поромна переправа) was a

ferry A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water ta ...

connection across the Strait of Kerch that connected the

Crimean Peninsula 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

Krasnodar Krai Krasnodar Krai (russian: Краснода́рский край, r=Krasnodarsky kray, p=krəsnɐˈdarskʲɪj kraj) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (a krai), located in the North Caucasus region in Southern Russia and ...

. The ferry ran across the narrowest part of the strait (about 5 km) between

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 ...

(harbour Crimea) by the 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 ...

and Port Kavkaz (harbour Caucasus) on 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 belon ...

, on the site of the former Kerch railway bridge. It carried passengers, automotive and railroad transport. The ferry was on the

European route E97 European route E 97 is an A-class European Route in Ukraine, Russia, Georgia, and Turkey. The highway runs for in total. It connects the North Black Sea region with the South Black Sea region along the eastern shores of the sea. Route d ...

and connected its parts, А290 (formerly M25) and М-17 highways. 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 ...

, ferry traffic peaked, but as the Crimean Bridge across the strait opened in 2018–2020, it overtook the traffic flow from the ferry, rendering its usage for transportation financially unfeasible, and the ferry line stopped operations in late 2020.

History

The ferry line was established in 1954, on the site of the former Kerch railway bridge. From 1993 to 2004 railroad transportation was suspended due to replacement of aged train-ferries. Since the

dissolution of the Soviet Union The dissolution of the Soviet Union, also negatively connoted as rus, Разва́л Сове́тского Сою́за, r=Razvál Sovétskogo Soyúza, ''Ruining of the Soviet Union''. was the process of internal disintegration within the Sov ...

, it was administered by

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-ei ...

and

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inva ...

through the joint venture “Crimea-Kuban Crossing”. In 1998, this company was reorganized into a Ukrainian state-owned enterprise, "Kerch Strait ferry line". On 17 March 2014, during the

annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation 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 t ...

, the company was nationalised by the

Republic of Crimea The Republic of Crimea, translit. ''Respublika Krym'' ; uk, Республіка Крим, translit. ''Respublika Krym'' ; crh, , is an unrecognized federal subject ( republic) of Russia, located in the Crimean Peninsula. Its territory ...

, and had been since administered by Russia only. The use of the ferry rose sharply after the annexation, and in June 2015, the ferry operator considered a daily passenger count of 11,000 normal. The 2018 opening of the road section of the new Crimean Bridge, crossing the strait about 10 km further south, greatly reduced demand for the ferry. In November 2019, it was announced that passenger and freight ferries had ceased operation, as the service was not breaking even. While occasional ferries were still used for rail freight transportation, the opening of the rail bridge across the strait overtook that last remaining traffic, and at the end of September 2020 the ferry operator AnRussTrans ceased operating the rail ferry line, with the last sailing taking place on 28 September 2020. AnRussTrans had also kept the ''Nikolay Aksenenko'' passenger ferry on stand-by until then. On 8 October 2022, following the Crimean Bridge explosion, Russia restarted operation of the ferry line using 'Kerch-2 ferry'.

Gallery

Image:Kerch Ferry Yeysk.jpg, Yeysk car-ferry Image:Kerch AnnenkovKrym.jpg, Annenkov train-ferry

References

Ferries of Ukraine Ferry transport in Russia Transport in Ukraine Transport in Crimea Kerch Strait Transport in Krasnodar Krai 1954 establishments in the Soviet Union Transport in the Soviet Union 2020 disestablishments in Ukraine 2020 disestablishments in Russia Sanctioned due to Russo-Ukrainian War {{Russia-transport-stub

History

Gallery

See also

References