The city Astrakhan is located in the mouth of river
Volga
. It is one of Russian ports on the Caspian Sea.
In winter the river and neighboring offshore zones freeze over. In hard winters the ice stay frozen from December to March, in open winters - from January to February. The pilotage during these months is carried out with the help of ice-breakers.
The Volgo-Caspian channel unites the Caspian Sea and
Astrakhan
. It is
101,5 miles
(
188 km
) long,
5 meters
deep, 100-
120 meters
wide. A two-way traffic for the ships that are
126 meters
long,
16 meters
wide and with a draught of
4,2 meters
is allowed along the channel.
There are about fifteen stations of loading and unloading of ships where ferrous materials, roll metal products, industrial wood, paper, asbestos, equipment, containers, motor-vehicles, foodstuffs and other goods are processed in the
Astrakhan
water-transport basin. They are located on the right and partly on the left bank of the
Volga
on a piece that is
22 kilometers
long. The full length of the moorages that are included in them is
3,2 km
. The depth along the moorage fluctuates from 4 to
5,2 meters
.
The
Astrakhan
port is the largest stevedore company in
Astrakhan
. The freight moorages (about
975 meters
long) are the part of the two freight areas – the Central and the Transshipment where metals, containers, wood and other general and bulk cargoes are overloaded. Besides, the port has three passenger moorings and a mooring for repairing of ships.
