Odesa-based Ukrferry is restarting a ropax service from Ukraine to Georgia as the country tries to normalise shipping operations.
The link from Chornomorsk to Batumi will be the first between the two countries since the Russian invasion in 2022.
The debut sailing will leave on 9 July, information on the company’s website shows.
Voyages are expected to be weekly, Interfax cited Ukrainian media as saying.
The ship involved is the 26,600-gt Kaunas (built 1989).
It can carry up to 249 passengers, as well as cars and trucks.
Ukrferry has warned that the departure and arrival time and dates might change before and during the trip.
The 60-hour run was halted due to the threat posed by the Russian Black Sea fleet after the invasion.
The Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority is also negotiating the resumption of ferry services from Baku in Azerbaijan to Ukraine, Interfax reported.
TradeWinds has reported that container shipping lines are slowly recommencing services to Ukraine after an absence of more than two years.
MSC and Hapag-Lloyd restart runs
Liner giants including MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company and Hapag-Lloyd are restarting services either independently or together with small Ukrainian shipping companies.
Geneva-based MSC has this week become the first major operator to initiate services with its own tonnage, according to Alphaliner.
The company began operations using the 1,118-teu MSC Levante F (built 2006) on a service connecting Turkey with Georgia and Ukraine.
The service was launched on 14 June from MSC’s East Med hub in Tekirdag, Turkey, and is scheduled to call at Poti in Georgia and Odesa later this week.
MSC’s move follows the launch of services by Iteris Feeders, a Ukrainian transport and logistics company based in Odesa.
Iteris launched regular feeder services between Romania and Ukraine in April.
That was the first regular containerised feeder service to and from Ukraine since Russia’s invasion of the country in February 2022.
