The two ports will be working on a new ferry route and a road-rail ferry complex, the Ukrainian port’s CEO Oksana Kiktenko says on Facebook. “The goal of the memorandum is to attract cargo traffic through the Middle Corridor, which will pass through Ukraine via a new railway route – the Bessarabia Route (Ukraine-Moldova-Romania), and to establish and develop mutually beneficial cooperation between the two ports.”

Ukraine used the Bessarabia route intensely during Russia’s naval blockade of its ports. When Kyiv managed to secure the maritime trade routes, rail freight traffic through Moldova dried up fast as goods returned to ports in and around Odesa.

According to Turkish officials, the ferry service cuts transportation time by no less than 60%. It also enables the transportation of dangerous goods, such as flammable, explosive and chemical substances, from Anatolia to the European part of the country. Those are prohibited from transiting the Marmaray Tunnel underneath the Bosporus Strait.

Middle Corridor

Providing relief for that tunnel is also an important goal of the Erdeniz ferry. It was opened in 2019 for freight traffic and remains the only direct rail link connecting the two parts of Türkiye. By now having a complementary route, Ankara hopes to improve its logistics position internationally: “With this development, our country’s position in international transportation will be strengthened, our exports will gain significant advantages and our logistics capacity will increase”, Deputy General Manager for the transport ministry Şinasi Kazancıoğlu commented.

Deputy Minister for Transport Osman Boyraz concurs, and also sees benefits for Asia – Europe traffic along the Middle Corridor. “We see the train ferry line not only as a line connecting two ports, but also as a strategic project that will accelerate regional development, facilitate our exporters’ access to international markets and strengthen our country’s logistics infrastructure. We expect all our stakeholders to embrace this project that will increase the efficiency of not only Türkiye, but also the Middle Corridor and international trade”, he said.

“We will become an operator not only of rail transportation, but also of sea transportation”, UZ’s commercial director Timofiy Murakhovskiy commented when the rail operator announced its plans in February. “The ultimate goal is to create a corridor that will provide turnkey services to our clients from China to Europe.” UZ said that the ferry would carry both rail wagons and containers.

Even if the re-launching of the ferry to Georgia could be considered a success, it is still hindered by the ongoing war. Only in the future does Ukrferry plan to have a regular service again.

This new setup for Kaliningrad logistics has a downside: It is rather slow. Delivery times can last from ten up to twenty days.

Fewer Russian goods on EU rail

Earlier, EU sanctions limited the amount of freight that Russia could transport to its exclave Kaliningrad via rail. Road transportation was not a viable alternative, because the EU does not allow sanctioned goods on trucks. As a result of the sanctions, the rail transit volume through Lithuania shrunk by 30 per cent in 2024. Only the quota for cement supplies reportedly grew by 20,000 tonnes.

Currently, there are around 30 ships providing freight transportation services to Kaliningrad from Russia. With the newly announced service, four rail ferries have started operating on the route.

Last year, Russia announced plans to build extra rail ferries to send rail freight to the exclave across the Baltic Sea. The head of the region said at the time that he wanted to achieve “total independence” from the EU for logistics needs. By the end of 2024, the volume of subsidies to support sea shipping to Kaliningrad amounted to 4,6 billion rubles (48 million euros).

The ferry would not only carry containers, but also rail wagons. In addition to launching a rail ferry, UZ plans to launch a new entity in Kazakhstan, UZ Cargo East.

Ukraine – Poland traffic decline

At the same time that UZ is coming out with the ferry plans, Poland – Ukraine traffic has declined rather significantly. January’s numbers are 24 per cent lower than during the same month in 2024. The total volume amounted to 1,4 million tonnes of freight.

A notable exception in traffic between the two countries is ore transport – its total volume grew by 43 per cent compared to January 2024. On the contrary, grain transportation dropped by 64 per cent.

“Transportation and logistics are of great importance for countries, especially for Ukraine. We anticipate the restoration of ferry connections between Ukraine and Georgia soon. This will enable our country to become a vital part of the global Middle Corridor and transit route”, the ambassador reportedly stated.

Middle Corridor

Georgia hosts a part of the important Baku – Tbilisi – Kars section of the Middle Corridor, facilitating rail freight traffic between China and Europe. A restoration of the ferry between Ukraine and the Caucasian country would give it direct access to the cross-continental route.

In the short term, PKP says it wants to examine the possibility of sending containers across the Baltic Sea. The long term plan is to “launch ferry connections using ships adapted to transport entire railway wagons without the need for reloading”, says PKP Cargo in a press release.

Infrastructure partially in place

Part of the infrastructure for this project is already in place. “Connections between Poland and Sweden can be implemented through container terminals in Świnoujście and Gdynia”, a representative of PKP Cargo explained. “The launch of such a connection will benefit customers of both companies throughout Europe, giving them access to additional terminals and a wide network of rail connections.”

Recent investments in the Świnoujście terminal have made rail ferries possible, and it is planning to expand its capacity further as the only facility in Poland that can accept rail ferries. Shipments of containers on ferries across the Baltic have already taken place this summer, writes Railmarket.com.

The idea for a renewed rail ferry connection between Sweden and Poland is not a new one. Five years ago, PCC Intermodal also embarked on that adventure with Green Cargo, writes Polish publication Logistyka. At the time, the biggest hurdle was the “unbalanced movement of goods”, as there was sufficient demand for goods to move up north, but there was no return flow of freight to Poland.

New Zealand’s North and South Islands are connected by a frequent ferry service between the capital, Wellington, and the southern port of Picton. However, the one thing missing from the mix is a rail link across the Cook Strait. That is not a situation likely to be rectified now that a multi-billion dollar project to revamp the service with rail-capable ships has been cancelled.

Change of heart and government

New Zealand’s government has decided to cancel the Inter-Island Resilient Connection (iReX) project. The ambitious plan would have unified the nation’s rail freight network. The plan involved the commissioning of two new rail-capable ferries and redeveloping the port facilities. However, a change of heart (and a change of government) put paid to the proposition.

NZ Finance Minister Nicola Willis pulled the plug when the estimated cost went four times over budget, at something over NZ$3 billion. The cost escalation has been driven by delays and inflation, which has seen the 2018 project stalled on the drawing board for six years.

Escalating costs and financial viability

National carrier KiwiRail has gone through several private and public iterations over the decades. Currently, the railway is in public hands and, like the nation, is divided into two halves, with the Cook Strait between the North and South Islands. To rectify that situation, one ageing rail ferry, operated by KiwiRail, was slated to be replaced by a pair of new Korean-built vessels. However, documents revealed in media in New Zealand revealed that the iReX project would not have broken even until after 2050, with a projected deficit of $1.3 billion.

The project’s budget ballooned, primarily due to the escalating expenses of port works and terminal infrastructure. It seems that despite the potential positive net value of the project to the overall economy of New Zealand, the overall financial burden is untenable in the medium term.

Alternatives and contingencies

The NZ Ministry of Transport suggested exploring more commercially viable options, potentially involving a different operator. The Government acknowledged the risk that KiwiRail might exit the ferry business if the project was halted. It proposed that even if KiwiRail chose to leave the market, other options could be considered to ensure a resilient inter-island connection.

Project iReX is just one of a number of core rail issues to address, including the commissioning of an order of new locomotives, currently being built by Stadler in Spain. There is the potential of a break fee with the Korean ship manufacturer, although the ferries had not yet begun construction. While the vision of a unified rail freight network remains compelling, supporters of iReX remain hopeful it may still be resurrected, even at this late stage.

In a meeting with President Vladimir Putin on 25 January, the Russian minister of economic development subsequently stressed that Kaliningrad’s key priority is supply independence. To that end, three new rail ferries will be built to help circumvent the exclave’s dependence on railways through Lithuania. In early 2022, weeks before its invasion of Ukraine, Russia also put two new ferries into use that allowed for the transportation of rail freight.

‘Total independence’

According to Russian Railways, rail import volumes into Kaliningrad not only recovered entirely after the brief sanctions but also exceeded pre-sanction levels by 40 per cent. Goods transportation out of the region was reportedly compensated by maritime transport. With the help of subsidies, freight volumes between Kaliningrad and mainland Russian ports grew by 50 per cent last year.

Currently, approximately 40 to 45 per cent of all freight from and to Kaliningrad is being transported by sea, according to the region’s governor Anton Alikhanov. He is not satisfied with these numbers, however, as the governor stresses the need for ‘total independence’. Accordingly, the new rail ferries will be constructed at a Russian shipyard with exclusively Russian materials and parts.

Also read:

• Kaliningrad sees a 37.2% drop in rail volumes for the first half of 2023
• Fesco bypasses Lithuania with St. Petersburg-Kaliningrad sea services
• LTG Cargo reduces Kaliningrad transit volumes in 2023