... of the ex-Soviet Black Sea coastline and continental shelf. The maritime interface retained by Russia in the Black Sea do not host any ports with capacities to replace those of Nikolayev or Kherson (as naval shipyards) on the one hand, and those of Sevastopol (as the main maintenance port and the headquarter of the Black Sea Fleet) on the other hand. Novorossiysk being an exception, none of Black Sea Russian ports can host several vessels of high tonnage: from the 26 ports and naval bases the USSR had in the Black Sea in 1991, 19 were left in Ukraine, 4 remained ...
... to the maritime challenge Russia faced before March 2014 in term of infrastructures for maintenance and shipbuilding. If Novorossiysk should arise as a new shipbuilding and ship repair pole in the Black Sea, the induction of new sea platforms in the Black Sea Fleet should contribute to the revival of Crimea shipyards (Sevastopol, Feodossia and Kertch). Other Black Sea ports, let alone the ports in the Sea of Azov, are likely to benefit from smaller investments and to remain maritime assets of second or even third importance devoted to other maritime activities (like ...
... Crimean Shipyards?
From a historical perspective, the most important Russian and Soviet Black Sea shipyards were located in Ukraine. While Nikolayev and Kherson laid down among the biggest surface vessels for the Imperial and Soviet navy, Sevmorzavod (Sevastopol) performed the maintenance of more than 80% of the tonnage of the Soviet Black Sea Fleet during the Cold War[16]. Yet, after the collapse of the USSR, most of the units of the Russian Black Sea Fleet were sent to Russia’s Baltic shipyards (Yantar in Kaliningrad; Saint Petersburg) for their maintenance. Russia’s ...
