OREANDA-NEWS. September 6, 2011. Cargo traffic at Port of Yuzhny in January-August 2011 totaled 15,143,500 tons, a 34.4-percent gain over the same period last year and a 12 percent growth from planned figure, the state-owned company said.

In August, Yuzhny port’s terminals handled over1,968.500 tons of cargo, a 20% increase on last year’s July and up 12. 8% from projected numbers.

In the reporting period the port handled 123, 873 railcars and 599 ships.

"We have everything to adequately reach the end of the year. However, the port is currently operating at the maximum of its capacity. Therefore we need more investment and new projects to improve the quality and quantity of our production volumes. Such projects include dredging of the harbor, the construction of two new berths - Number10 and 11, the reconstruction of berths Number 8 and 9. All this is combined in a program of the port’s long-term expansion, which was approved by the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine," said the head of Port of Yuzhny Alexander Lagosha.

State-run Yuzhny Merchant Sea Port founded in 1978 is located on the northwest coast of the Black Sea, in the ice-free Small Adzhalyksk (Grygoryivsky) estuary, 30 km northeast of Odessa. The Port is connected to the sea by a 3km-long 14-m-deep canal so pilotage service is required for inbound and outbound vessels. In 2010, Port of Yuzhny posted a 2.1% growth year-over-year to 18.22 million tons of different cargoes.