Prospects for sea transport of intermodal containers in the Black Sea

The recent development of the Short Sea Shipping in the Black Sea region has shown that intermodal transportation will play an important role in the future. At the same time, the coaster fleet of the Black Sea and the East Mediterranean region is of considerable age, and the increased freight rates enforce new orders of ships. The present study analyses the prospects for sea transport of intermodal containers in the Black Sea. These include statistics for world container transport, and in the Black Sea Region, actual situation of East-West transport corridors, with focus on those crossing the Black Sea. The paper presents statistics for the main dimensions of containerships that visited the main Black Sea Ports during one month. Based on the results from the study, a proposal for project assignment of new ships for intermodal transportation in the Black Sea is defined.