Russia has lost 75 per cent of the capacity of the Kerch ferry crossing
He announced this on his Telegram channel.
Four out of five ferries have been rendered inoperable
According to Brovdi, prior to the start of the operation, transport between the port of ‘Kavkaz’ and the port of ‘Crimea’ was provided by five ferries — the ‘Lavrentiy’, ‘Panagia’, ‘Yeisk’, ‘Maria’ and SKS One.
He claims that following a series of strikes, which he says were carried out by the Unmanned Systems Forces in conjunction with the SBU, two vessels — the ‘Yeysk’ and the SKS One — are no longer operational. Two further ferries — the ‘Lavrentiy’ and the ‘Panagia’ — have lost their ability to move under their own power and are now being used solely as barges, towed by tugs. Furthermore, according to the SBS commander, the ‘Maria’ ferry also sustained numerous hits, after which it was towed to Kerch, and there are no plans to return the vessel to service.
What was the crossing’s capacity?
Brovdi noted that prior to the start of the operation, a single ferry could carry between eight and fifteen vehicles, depending on their dimensions and weight. He estimated that, under normal conditions, all four main ferries transported between 180 and 250 vehicles per day, with around 80 per cent of this traffic being used by the Russian Ministry of Defence.
The SBS commander claims that, following the strikes, the Kerch ferry crossing has retained only about a quarter of its previous capacity. There is currently no independent confirmation of this information.
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