Ukraine is Using Financing from World Bank to Modernize Port Fleet

 

The Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority is in the process of determining the winner for a tender it launched earlier this year as a first step toward modernizing key parts of its aging fleet. With financing from the World Bank to repair essential logistics infrastructure, the authority intends to purchase a multifunctional port vessel for use at Izmail and on the Danube.

The Sea Ports Authority notes that a large portion, up to 30 percent, of its budget goes to fleet repair and maintenance costs. With the restoration project and the support from the World Bank, the goal is to optimize the fleet. It notes that a large portion is obsolete equipment, which contributes to the high costs. Specifically in Izmail, the branch is using equipment built in the 1970s and 1980s.

One of the newer vessels used by the branch, a 2012-built dredge, was damaged last summer while operating in the Bystre waterway, a critical canal linking the Danube to the Black Sea. Reports at the time suggested the vessel hit a mine. Three people were killed, and the unconfirmed reports said the vessel sank. The waterway reopened in August.

The current tender is for a multi-purpose vessel to be based in Izmail. The requirements based on the tender include the capabilities to conduct pollution cleanup, collect oily water, aid with emergency rescues, firefighting, and towing operations, including the capability for operations in ice conditions. The proposals submitted are currently being reviewed. They will select a winner from among the proposals and then move to finalize a contract. The vessel is scheduled for delivery in 2026.

The agency said in its statement that this is part of its systematic approach to strengthening operations and the environmental focus across the Danube region. The ports along the Danube have become vital to Ukraine during the war and the attacks on ports in the Greater Odesa region. They continue to be a lifeline for fuel imports as well as another route for grain shipments, and earlier in the war, they also used the ports for a containers on barge service to move cargo to and from  Romania.