Ruse, On the Danube, Oct 15 (BTA/GNA) – The head of River Supervision at Bulgaria’s Maritime Administration Executive Agency – Ruse Directorate, Ivan Zhekov, has said that the low level of the Danube and the war in Ukraine have reduced by one-third the number of freight ships passing through the Bulgarian-Romanian section of the river.
The conditions at the start of 2022 were favourable for navigation, but then the war in Ukraine started and the water level began to drop as early as in June, a period that is known for high water levels. The low water levels in July, August, and September had the worst impact, Zhekov noted. From January to September 2022, there were 114 days when the water level was low and hindered navigation, compared to only 56 days of limited navigability in 2019.
Statistics show that in January-September 2022, a total of 6,968 vessels passed through the Bulgarian-Romanian section of the Danube, compared to 10,746 last year and 10,991 in 2020. In 2019, when there were no COVID-19 pandemic and military actions, the transiting vessels numbered 12,238, Zhekov said.
The amount of cargo transported on the Danube decreased around 6.5-fold to 581,571,348 tkm in the first quarter of 2022, from 3,819,103,246 tkm in January-March 2021.
The low water level also affected cruise tourism on the Danube, Zhekov told BTA. A total of 278 cruise ship visits were registered in Ruse in January-September 2022, compared to 116 in the like period of last year and 20 in 2020 when there was a peak in the COVID-19 pandemic. In the pre-pandemic 2019, there were 190 cruise ships operating on the Danube and 441 visits were paid to Ruse.
Zhekov noted that this year’s low water level and paralyzed navigation on the Danube are not new: the situation was similar back in 2003.
The water level has been normal since late September but shipping is far below the pre-war and pre-pandemic level, mostly for economic rather that navigability reasons, he commented.
BTA/GNA