The Kerch Strait ferry line (, ) was a

ferry A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus ...

connection across the

Strait of Kerch The Kerch Strait is a strait in Eastern Europe. It connects the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, separating the Kerch Peninsula of Crimea in the west from the Taman Peninsula of Russia's Krasnodar Krai in the east. The strait is to wide and u ...

that connected the

Crimean Peninsula Crimea ( ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukrai ...

and

Krasnodar Krai Krasnodar Krai (, ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (a krai), located in the North Caucasus region in Southern Russia and is administratively a part of the Southern Federal District. Its administrative center is the t ...

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

Port Krym Port Krym (, , - 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 of Zhukivka. Next to the port is located the Krym railway station. P ...

(harbour Crimea) by the city of

Kerch Kerch, also known as Keriç or Kerich, is a city of regional significance on the Kerch Peninsula in the east of Crimea. It has a population of Founded 2,600 years ago as the Colonies in antiquity#Greek colonies, ancient Greek colony Pantik ...

and

Port Kavkaz Port Kavkaz () is a small harbour on the Chushka Spit in Krasnodar Krai, Russia, on the eastern side of Kerch Strait. It is adjacent to the village of Chushka (rural locality), Chushka, which is now largely deserted due to the toxic effects of the ...

(harbour Caucasus) on the

Chushka Spit __NOTOC__ Chushka Spit () is a sandy spit in the northern part of the Strait of Kerch. It extends from Cape Achilleion and the town of to the south-west in the direction of the Black Sea for almost . Administratively, it belongs to Temryuksky ...

, on the site of the former

Kerch railway bridge The Kerch railway bridge (), also called the Kerch Bridge (), was a short-lived Soviet Union, Soviet Russian SFSR, Russian railway bridge across the Kerch Strait, which connects the Black Sea with the Sea of Azov. Constructed in 1944–1945 and ...

. 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 des ...

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 the Crimean Peninsula, part of Ukraine, and then annexed it. This took place in the relative power vacuum immediately following the Revolution of Dignity. It marked the beginning of the Russo-Ukrain ...

, ferry traffic peaked, but as the

Crimean Bridge The Crimean Bridge (, ; ), 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 the Kerch Strait between the Taman Peninsula of Krasnodar Krai in ...

across the strait opened in 2018–2020, it overtook the traffic flow from the ferry, rendering its usage for transportation financially unfeasible (there is no toll involved for the use of the bridge), and the ferry line stopped operations in late 2020.

History

The ferry line was established in 1954, on the site of the former

. From 1993 to 2004 railroad transportation was suspended due to replacement of aged train-ferries. Since the

dissolution of the Soviet Union The Soviet Union was formally dissolved as a sovereign state and subject of international law on 26 December 1991 by Declaration No. 142-N of the Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. Declaration No. 142-Н of ...

, it was administered by

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

and

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

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 the Crimea, Crimean Peninsula, part of Ukraine, and then annexed it. This took place in the relative power vacuum immediately following the Revolution of Dignity. It marked the beginning of the Russ ...

, the company was nationalised by the

Republic of Crimea Crimea, or the Crimean Peninsula, historically also known as the ''Tauric Chersonese'' (Tauric Peninsula, Tauric, Taurica, or Tauris), is a major peninsula in the north of the Black Sea. Crimea may also refer to: Places Crimean Peninsula Republic ...

, 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

, 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 Crimean Bridge explosion can refer to: * 2022 Crimean Bridge explosion * 2023 Crimean Bridge explosion * 2025 Crimean Bridge explosion {{Disambiguation ...

, Russia restarted operation of the ferry line using the ''Kerch-2'' ferry.

Gallery

Image:Kerch Ferry Yeysk.jpg, ''Yeysk'' road ferry Image:Kerch AnnenkovKrym.jpg, ''Annenkov'' rail ferry (sold for scrap late 2020)

References

{{coord, 45.3532, 36.6504, display=title 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

History

Gallery

See also

References