Ferry crossing

Ferry –  a vessel equipped to accommodate both loaded and empty rail cars and trucks on board.

Ferry crossings play a crucial role in the logistical system employed by Simplextrans for the transportation of goods between Turkey and Europe to CIS countries and vice versa.

The advantages of utilizing railway ferries include:

  • Cost reduction in transportation.
  • Shortened delivery times.
  • Minimization of the risk of cargo damage during reloading.

Simplextrans operates on the following ferry routes in both directions:

Ferry crossing

Directions of transport

Description

Varna (Bulgaria) – Chernomorsk (ex-Ilyichevsk) (Ukraine) Turkey, Bulgaria – Ukraine, Moldova, Russia, Belarus, Mongolia, Kazakhstan – Bulgaria, Turkey When loading in Turkey – CIS railway wagons are supplied to the station Halkali (Turkey), (district of Istanbul).  

When loading in Bulgaria – it is possible to load the cargo directly into the CIS railway wagons at any of the stations of the Bulgarian railway. The permutation of the bogies is made on the ferry terminal in Varna. It is also possible to transship certain types of goods from the CIS railway wagons into Bulgarian (European) wagons and vice versa on the terminal complex in Varna.

Samsun (Turkey) – Port Kavkaz (Russia) Turkey – Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan In the port of Samsun there is a possibility to load goods from vehicles directly to the CIS wagons and vice versa. This ferry provides a direct connection between Turkey and Russia.
Varna (Bulgaria) – Port Kavkaz (Russia) Bulgaria, Turkey – Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan The ferry allows to load goods directly to the CIS railway wagons and to deliver the wagons on the ferry directly to Russia by passing Ukraine. CIS railway wagons may be supplied for loading both on the territory of Turkey (Halkali station) and on the territory of Bulgaria.
Alyat (Baku, Azerbaijan) – Turkmenbashi (Turkmenistan) Turkey, Georgia, Ukraine, Russia, Belarus, Azerbaijan – Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan Very often, this ferry is used for transportation goods in Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan. Our company uses it for transshipment of the Turkish cargo from ships or vehicles onto railway wagons at the ports of Georgia with the further delivery to Turkmenistan. The ferry takes on board 28 wagons. Transit time – 1 day.
Alyat (Baku, Azerbaijan) – Port of Kuryk (Kazakhstan) Turkey, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan – Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan, China This ferry is convenient for transportation of goods from Turkey through Georgia with transshipment according ship / container / vehicle – railway wagon variant. It allows reducing the distance to the countries of Central Asia bypassing Russia. Time course of the ferry – 1 day.
Chernomorsk (ex-Ilyichevsk) – Poti / Batumi (Georgia) Ukraine, Moldova, Belarus and European countries – Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan This ferry is used for direct connection between European States, Georgia and Armenia. It is developed the transportation of transit goods from Bulgaria, Macedonia and Serbia to Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan and in the opposite direction. Transit time – 2 days.
Klaipeda (Lithuania) – Sassnitz (formerly Mukran) (Germany) Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, Russia, Belarus – Germany This ferry crossing allows the delivery of goods in the CIS railway wagons directly from the Baltic states and CIS countries to Germany and back without reloading. Transit time – 1 day.
Vanino (Russia) – Holmsk (Russia) Continental Russia – island of Sakhalin, Russia This allows to get a ferry from the mainland to the island of Sakhalin Russia without reloading (in the same rail wagon that was loaded by the shipper). Transit time – 1 day

IMPORTANT – All transportation on ferries are agreed in advance. Shipping companies include the agreed number of wagons in the monthly transportation plan on the basis of the filed applications and in the presence of the payment. Therefore, customers should take this into account and to file the application in advance.