Port Kavkaz

Cars in the queue waiting for access to the ferry in port of Kavkaz July 2014

Landing on the ferry in Port Kavkaz. 2014

Port Kavkaz and the Kerch Strait

Port Kavkaz (Russian: Порт Кавказ) is a small harbour on the Kerch Strait in Krasnodar Krai, Russia. The port is able to handle vessels up to 130 metres (430 ft) in length, 14.5 metres (48 ft) in breadth and with draft up to 5 metres (16 ft).

It is the eastern terminal of the railroad and car Kerch Strait ferry line connecting Krasnodar Krai with Crimea (the western terminal of the ferry line is Port Krym).

The southern zone of the port has been under renovation to increase the turnover of the port of Kavkaz up to 4 Mt.

On August 2014 Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev signed a government order to enlarge the area of the port near Crimea with the aim to increase cargo transportation volumes with the use of large ships. The borders of the port were changed to add a deep-water area south of the port of Taman for large vessels to anchor. Plans included an additional 15–18 anchor places for loading large ships. The additional area is 18.4 km² with depths of 26-27.6 m.