Port Kavkaz, Commercial port in Krasnodar Krai, Russia.
Port Kavkaz lies on the Chushka Spit in the Kerch Strait, Krasnodar Krai. Its old Northern District, built for the Kerch ferry, has ten berths behind moles, including berths No. 5 and 6 rebuilt in 2009 as an overpass for rail ferries; the newer Southern District handles export cargo. The port takes ships up to 130 m long, 14.5 m wide and 5 m draft.
Built in 1953 on the Chushka Spit to serve the Kerch Strait ferry line to Port Krym, the port handled passengers, cars and rail wagons, with its own Kavkaz station shunting wagons onto the ferries. Passenger rail service to Ilyich ended in the late 1980s as the rail ferries aged, and after the USSR's break-up the line became international and a border-customs post opened. Rail cargo resumed in 2004 with new ferries and rebuilt facilities.
The port's name comes from the Caucasus, though it stands on the Chushka Spit facing Crimea's Port Krym. In Soviet times passenger boats ran from here to Kerch's sea terminal, and a railcar service linked the port with the settlement of Ilyich. A passenger boat to Kerch briefly resumed in summer 2010, running three times a day before the line closed again.
The port lies on the Chushka Spit in the Kerch Strait, in Temryuksky District of Krasnodar Krai, next to the village of Chushka. It has two zones: the older Northern District, built for the Kerch ferry crossing and sheltered by moles with ten berths, and the newer Southern District, built for export cargo. Berths 5 and 6, rebuilt in 2009 as an elevated pier, handle rail ferries to Crimea, Georgia, Bulgaria and Turkey.
Port Kavkaz is the fifth-largest port in Russia by cargo turnover and the second in the Black Sea–Azov basin after Novorossiysk, handling 30.5 million tonnes in 2015. Its old ferry section is the Northern District, while the newer export section is the Southern District.
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