Ukrainian flag is raised on pilot boat built with USAID funds

Recently, in one of Ukraine's Danube seaports, the flag of Ukraine was raised on a pilot boat, which the Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority (SPA) received from the USAID Project Economic Support of Ukraine.

Rubryka writes about this, referring to the USAID website.

What is the problem?

The Danube region remains a critical transport hub for export and import goods.

What is the solution?

"Today, one more pilot boat joins the performance of its duties. It will help other vessels move confidently in the Danube water area.

It will replace our former boat, Orlyk, which was blown up by a mine in 2022. We wish this small boat a long and prosperous voyage," said Dmytro Rudyavskyi, chief of the fleet service of the SPA Branch Delta-Lotsman.

 How does it work?

As noted, from now on, the boat can perform its duties in the water area of ​​the Danube River. It will support maritime operations and transport sea pilots between land and arriving/departing vessels, thereby:

• reducing delays,
• increasing the number of ship calls to the ports of the Danube cluster.

The project organizers say that the boat was built in half a year at the Kyiv enterprise UMS on the order of the USAID Project.

Photo: Facebook / Oleksandr Kubrakov

It can carry 12 crew members and reach up to 22 knots. The boat has:

• installed modern Swedish engines,
• equipped recreation area for the crew.

In addition, it can autonomously stay on the water for up to 12 hours.

The pilot boat was named in honor of the officer, captain 1st rank Hennadii Zhuravkov, who worked for more than 20 years at the Deltalotsman branch and held the position of head of the SPA Odesa regional office. His family and colleagues attended the event.

Photo: USAID

"Today, I am very pleased to be here and see that the memory of my husband lives on because the pilot boat was named after him," says his wife, Nataliia Zhuravkova.

It is reported that two more boats ordered by the USAID Project for the needs of SPA are currently being built in Turkey.

We will remind you that recently, the Maritime Guard of the State Border Service of Ukraine received modern high-speed boats from the American Metal Shark company. These boats are equipped with modern systems of navigation, control, automatic fire extinguishing, and video surveillance cameras.

What is known about USAID

The USAID Project is one of the key partners of USAID, which implements the Agricultural Sustainability Initiative of Ukraine (AGRI-Ukraine), with a budget of $350 million. This initiative was launched in 2022 to strengthen Ukrainian agricultural exports and mitigate the global food security crisis exacerbated by the war.

As part of the AGRI-Ukraine initiative, the USAID project cooperates with state and private enterprises to complement and attract investments in transportation and transshipment of grain, which Ukraine desperately needs.