Saving Canal Estimated to Cost $8 Million

The Delta-Lotsman state enterprise hopes to earmark nearly $5 million by year's end to dredge Ukraine's longest (44 nautical miles) Buh-Dnipro Estuary Canal (BDEC).

The Black Sea Project and Research Institute estimates 5.5 million cubic meters of riverbed will be dredged out, almost twice the amount for the last decade.

The BDEC, which links the Black Sea with Mykolayiv, belonged to the Mykolayiv merchant seaport until last December. For many years, the port has regularly collected a canal toll from ships calling at Mykolayiv (several million dollars a year), while returning only small change for canal maintenance. This caused a situation when the BDEC ceased to meet the design requirements for depth, width, the condition of navigation equipment, and shipping safety. A ban has been imposed on night and two-way shipping, which cut drastically the number of vessels calling at Mykolayiv.

The situation changed for the better after two canals, the BDEC and the Kherson sea canal, were handed over to Delta-Lotsman. In May, the enterprise «called all hands to the pumps» and began to put its new property in order.

Delta-Lotsman manager Viktor Bezdolny told The Day that the cost of bringing the BDEC in line with the design requirements is estimated at $8 million.