Port and Waterways

Ukraine has 18 sea trade ports and 12 sea terminals on the coasts of the Black and Azov seas. All Ukrainian Sea ports are state-owned. 9 major ports of Ukraine are currently occupied by Russia (including all ports on the Azov Sea and ports in the Crimea):

• Mariupol
• Berdyansk
• Genichesk
• Skadovsk
• Yevpatoriya
• Sevastopol
• Yalta
• Feodosia
• Kerch

The largest Ukrainian ports along the Black Sea coast – Chornomorsk, Odesa, Pivdennyi – are operational, but partly damaged. Ports along the Dnipro River – Kherson, Mykolaiv – are blocked by the Russian army and navy. As of September 2023, only a few vessels managed to penetrate the blockade.

Other partially operational ports are located along the Danube River: Izmail, Reni, Ust-Dunaisk. These ports – like all other Ukrainian ports – were attacked by Russian forces since the start of the war and sustained some damage. While they remain operational, these ports have only a fraction of the capacity of the larger ports in Ukraine and cannot compensate for the loss or blockade of other ports.

Pre-war capacity

The overall berthing space available across the 18 major seaports in Ukraine was more than 38 km, consisting of about 11 km for bulk and dry-bulk cargo; about 15 km for all types of general cargo; 4.5 km for passenger operations; 1.5 km for liquid cargo; and 4 km for auxiliary functions. These 18 ports were equipped with over 600 gantry cranes, approximately 1,500 forklift trucks of various types, and over 400 other units of port machinery. The ports have more than 500,000 m² of covered warehousing and more than 2.5 million m² of open storage/yard space. 

The busiest of these sea trade ports were – and still are – Chornomorsk, Odesa and Pivdennyi: about 60% of all goods turnover is managed through these main ports, offering the best sea approach ways and accommodating large vessels with draft ranging from 11.5 m to about 14 m.

The major container terminals were – and still are – Odessa and Chornomorsk ports. 

There are other types of ports located in the largest Ukrainian rivers of Dnepr and Pivdennyi, namely Mykolaiv, Kherson, and Olivia ports that used to operate for bulk and general cargo. 

On the coast of the Crimean Peninsula, the ports of Sevastopol, Yalta, Feodosiysky, and Kerch are located. These ports were intended for the service and transportation needs of Crimea. 

On the northern coast of the Sea of Azov, Berdyansk and Mariupol Sea Trade Ports are located, with proximity to the most industrially developed regions of Ukraine – Donbas and Prydniprovya. The ports were mainly used for the export of metal and other production of these regions. 

Ukraine has also 3 sea trade ports in the lower reaches of Dunai – Izmail, Reni and Ust-Dunaysky, serving mainly the needs of countries along the Dunabe.

Ukraine has 10 river ports, the majority of which are privately owned. There are several rivers suitable for navigation in Ukraine, such as Dnipro, Dunai, Southern Bug, and Dniester.

The main river of Ukraine and the main internal waterway is Dnipro, which runs in the middle of the country from North to South and provides access to the largest seaports of Ukraine. Due to the draw- bridges on the Dnipro River, there are limitations for river navigation: in Dnipro city and Kremenchuk, the height of fairway arches is 8.5 and 9.6 m respectively. The height of the fairway arches of the Kherson bridge is 17.2 meters. The allowed draft of vessels on Dnipro is 3.65m and limited to 3m in the upper part of the river. The draft of the Kyiv reservoir is limited to 2.65m.

Most recent events

On 06 June 2023, the Kakhovka dam was destroyed, making river transport downstream from Zaporizhzhia impossible. This stretch of the Dnipro River was the busiest in terms of vessel traffic. Restoration of river traffic there is expected to take years.

Ports Daily Loading / Discharging Capacity

Contact list:

• Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine: http://mtu.gov.ua
• SE Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority: http://www.uspa.gov.ua/en/
• SE Ukrainian River Ports Authority: http://www.arport.com.ua/
• Ukrrichflot: Freight River Transportation: http://ukrrichflot.ua/en/