The ferry service from Chernomorsk to Varna, which was stopped when the full-scale invasion began, partially resumed operations a few days ago.

The cargo ferry “Vilnius” has already made several trips to the sea capital of Bulgaria, our correspondents report.

According to Dumskaya, this long-known route has now become part of the new ferry line Chernomorsk – Varna – Batumi, connecting the Odessa region with Georgia. After leaving Chernomorsk, the Vilnius stays in Varna for several hours and then sets off on a two-day voyage to the Caucasian coast. Now they transport cargo there, and truckers use the passenger cabins.

Let us recall that the ferry crossing Chernomorsk – Varna was opened almost 47 years ago – on November 14, 1978. Today, the ferry terminal’s capacity allows for the handling of up to 4.5 million tons of freight in wagons, more than 400 thousand trucks and 250 thousand cars and other wheeled vehicles per year.

“Vilnius” was built in Germany in 1987, it is one  of the largest road-rail ferries in the world. Length 191 m, width 28 m, gross tonnage over 22 thousand tons, speed 14.5 knots.

It can accommodate up to 50 general-purpose railway carriages and 50 heavy-duty vehicles with trailers at a time. There are also cabins for 108 passengers, a restaurant, a bar, a lounge, and a children’s playroom.

Dumskaya columnist Alexey Sukhoy believes that the resumption of the Chernomorsk-Varna ferry crossing indicates the opening of another very important transport corridor for our country.

“This route has existed for several decades, being the fastest transport artery connecting our region with Asia. The resumption of work was supposed to take place last summer, it was postponed several times, but then the security situation did not allow the ferries to start moving, and business did not want to work in these directions. Now there are positive shifts, business feels much better than last year, the Ukrainian sea corridor works without interruptions, container ships and railway ferries have returned to the ports of Greater Odessa,” the observer noted.
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