Caucasus-Poti ferry line resumes operation after 13-year break

Caucasus-Poti ferry line resumes operation after 13-year break

ITAR-TASS News Agency
March 23, 2005 Wednesday

The Caucasus-Poti ferry line resumed operation after a 13-year break.
The first ferry with grain supply for Armenia went on this route on
Wednesday, the press service of the Russian Transport Ministry said.

Only two trial voyages will be made so far, the press service said.
The ferry Annenkov with 18 wagons went on the first voyage. The ferry
will come back with manganese ore supply in five days. The second
voyage with grain supply is scheduled for the beginning of next week.

The agreement on the opening of the ferry line was signed in Tbilisi
on January 10, 2005.

The opening of the ferry communication across the Black Sea and the
Sea of Azov is very important, as the railway communication by land
between Russia and Georgia has been suspended for the last 12 years.
The railway communication has been resumed in August 1992 after the
armed conflict in Abkhazia has started. As a result supplies for
Armenia and Azerbaijan were made on motorways bypassing Georgia that
made the way much longer and the cost of supply much higher. Not only
Georgia and Russia but also Armenia, Azerbaijan and Central Asian
states will use the ferry line.