Port of Varna
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Port of Varna (map) is the largest seaport complex in Bulgaria. It is located on the Black Sea's west coast, on Varna Bay and in the adjacent Lake Varna and Lake Beloslav, and also comprises the outlying port of Balchik. There are two anchorages at Varna roadstead: summer and winter. If violent northeasterly wind and wave conditions make the anchorages hazardous, a foul weather anchorage is available west of the 70-m high Cape Kaliakra 26 nautical miles east-northeast of Varna.
Two inland canals connect the sea and Port of Varna East with Lake Varna, Lake Beloslav and Port of Varna West: Channel 1 with draft 11.50 m and Channel 2 with draft 11.00 m. The depths of the ship berths and the approaches allow the handling of vessels of capacity up to 50,000 gross tonnes. In view of the stated safe canal depths, only vessels of draft less than 9,90 m and airdraft up to 46 m are allowed to Varna West. Vessels with load over 200 m, beam over 26 m, or over 20 000 gross tonnes are required to pass the channels during daylight hours only. The largest vessel handled (as of 2006) is the Norwegian Dream cruise ship (220 m in length, 50,700 gross tonnes).
Port of Varna offers full service: loading, discharging, stevedoring, forwarding, storage and various intermodal services. It operates 65 electric cranes and about 400 pieces of ship, landside and warehouse port facilities. The port open-air storage area is 454 000 sq.m. and the warehouses 76 000 sq.m. It has a well-forked railway and road network. The existing port facilities allow the handling of practically all kinds of solid bulk, break-bulk, containerized and some liquid-bulk cargoes.
Principal exports include urea, soda ash, cement, clinker, silica, fertilisers, grain, containers and ro-ro. Principal imports are coal, metals, ores and ore concentrates, phosphates, timber, molasses, containers and ro-ro.
The updated general plan for the Port of Varna to 2020 was approved in 1999. Major projects for new construction, reconstruction and modernization include: a container terminal and a ro-ro terminal on the island under the Asparuhov most bridge, a grain terminal on the north shore of Lake Varna, south of the Dry Port storage base, a liquid chemicals terminal and a cement and clinker terminal at Varna West, modernization of the passenger and ro-ro terminals at Varna East. A liquified natural gas terminal is being developed at Beloslav. Other existing port terminals include the Cruise Terminal, Petrol, LesPort, and Varna Thermal Power Plant; the Railroad Ferry Terminal, which is not part of the complex, is situated in the Beloslav Lake near Varna West.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- http://www.port-varna.bg/ - Port of Varna, Пристанище Варна
- http://lifeseafarers.org/ - LIFE International Seafarers Centres-Varna
- Panorama photos of the Port of Varna Cruise Terminal, Port of Varna Yacht Club and the quay - Format: Apple QTVR
