MOSCOW, August 14. /TASS/. Amid the closure of its Black Sea ports, Ukraine is looking for alternate shipping channels like the Danube, but there are issues there related to low water levels and a fleet shortage, said Dmitry Kazanin, owner and director of the TEUS transport and logistics company.

Ukrainian exporters have shifted focus to the Danube ports of Izmail and Reni, which have proven capable of rapidly scaling up transshipment, the expert noted, as quoted by the Ukrainian industry publication GMK Center.

While growth potential for cargo traffic via Ukraine's Danube ports remains high, prospects must be assessed by the throughput capacity of the entire logistics corridor rather than just the physical capacities of Izmail and Reni, Kazanin emphasized.

"The Danube cannot fully substitute the ports of Greater Odessa. Deep-water ports can immediately consolidate large shiploads, whereas Danube logistics are more fragmented and technologically complex," he pointed out.

According to Kazanin, the impact of shallow water is more severe than it appears when looking solely at water levels directly in Izmail or Reni. Due to low water levels, a significant portion of the barge and tugboat fleet remains stranded in the Upper Danube, unable to sail down to the Lower Danube. Consequently, shallow waters in the Upper and Middle Danube reduce the tonnage available for cargo transit from Izmail and Reni to the Romanian port of Constanta.

Furthermore, draft restrictions on the route to Constanta require reduced commercial cargo loads for barges. Transporting the same volume of cargo (20,000-30,000 tons) therefore demands more vessels or a higher frequency of voyages, the expert noted.

Since July 22, the Odessa, Chernomorsk and Yuzhny ports have not accepted or sent any foreign cargo vessels. Ukrainian exporters are attempting to move products via the Danube ports of Izmail, Reni, and Ust-Dunaisk, the Romanian port of Constanta, as well as by road and rail to the country's western border.