Kerch–Yenikale canal ( uk, Керч-Єнікальський канал, russian: Керчь-Еникальский канал) is a maritime shipping canal in the Kerch Strait. It connects the

Sea of Azov The Sea of Azov ( Crimean Tatar: ''Azaq deñizi''; russian: Азовское море, Azovskoye more; uk, Азовське море, Azovs'ke more) is a sea in Eastern Europe connected to the Black Sea by the narrow (about ) Strait of Kerch, ...

and 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, Roma ...

History

The canal was built from 1874 to 1877. The initial depth of the canal was 5.7 m. 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

canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flow un ...

can accommodate vessels up to 215 meters long with a draft of up to 8 meters with 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. Since the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014, the canal is fully controlled by Russia. The navigational procedures, including prior notification of intent to pass and limitations on vessel size and those due to weather conditions and echeloning of one-way group passage, remain unchanged from the period of Ukrainian administration. During construction of the Crimean Bridge the canal was temporarily blocked for navigation.Mariupol port cuts cargo handling by 15.5% in 2017.
''

Interfax-Ukraine The Interfax-Ukraine ( uk, Інтерфакс-Україна) is a Kyiv-based Ukraine, Ukrainian independent news agency founded in 1992. The company does not belong to the Russian news corporation Interfax Information Services. The company pub ...

''. 2018-02-02.

References

Sources

* Керчь-Еникальский пролив // Военная энциклопедия (Сытин, 1911–1915): т. 12: Кальяри — Кобелянка, с. 513–514
Про затвердження Правил плавання суден Керч-Єнікальським каналом і підхідними каналами до нього // Наказ №721 від 09.10.2002 Ministry of Transportation and Communication (Ukraine), Міністерства транспорту України
] Kerch Strait Canals in Crimea Canals in Russia {{Crimea-stub