The
Kerch Strait connects the
Black SeaThe Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...
and the
Sea of AzovThe Sea of Azov , known in Classical Antiquity as Lake Maeotis, is a sea on the south of Eastern Europe. It is linked by the narrow Strait of Kerch to the Black Sea to the south and is bounded on the north by Ukraine mainland, on the east by Russia, and on the west by the Ukraine's Crimean...
, separating the Kerch Peninsula in the west from the
Taman PeninsulaThe Taman Peninsula is a peninsula in the present-day Krasnodar Krai of Russia. It is bounded on the north by the Sea of Azov, on the west by the Strait of Kerch and on the south by the Black Sea. The peninsula has evolved over the past two millennia from a chain of islands into the peninsula it is...
in the east. The strait is 4.5 kilometres (2.8 mi) to 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) wide and up to 18 metres (59.1 ft) deep.
The most important harbor is the
CrimeaCrimea , or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea , is a sub-national unit, an autonomous republic, of Ukraine. It is located on the northern coast of the Black Sea, occupying a peninsula of the same name...
n city of
KerchKerch is a city on the Kerch Peninsula of eastern Crimea, an important industrial, transport and tourist centre of Ukraine. Kerch, founded 2600 years ago, is considered as one of the most ancient cities in Ukraine.-Ancient times:...
which gives its name to the strait, formerly known as the
Cimmerian BosporusThe Bosphorus or Bosporus , also known as the Istanbul Strait , is a strait that forms part of the boundary between Europe and Asia. It is one of the Turkish Straits, along with the Dardanelles...
. The Russian side of the strait contains the
Taman BayThe Taman Bay is a shallow bay or gulf on the east coast of the Strait of Kerch shaped by the Tuzla and Chushka spits. It dips into the Taman Peninsula of Krasnodar Krai, Russia for about 16 km. The bay is 8 km wide at its mouth and is up to 5 meters deep. Fishing villages and the...
encircled by the
Tuzla SpitTuzla is a long narrow peninsula, or sandy spit, in the southern part of the Strait of Kerch which extends from Cape Tuzla to the north-west in the direction of the city Kerch for almost 12 km....
to the south and
Chushka SpitChushka is a long narrow peninsula, or sandy spit, in the northern part of the Strait of Kerch which extends from Cape Achilleion to the south-west in the direction of the Black Sea for almost 18 km....
to the north. The most important settlement on the Russian side is
TamanTaman is a village in Temryuksky District of Krasnodar Krai, Russia, located on the coast of the Taman Bay. Population: -History:Taman occupies the site of the ancient cities of Hermonassa and Tmutarakan...
where an important cargo port is under construction.
History
The straits are about 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) long and 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) broad at the narrowest, and are formed by an eastern extension of
CrimeaCrimea , or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea , is a sub-national unit, an autonomous republic, of Ukraine. It is located on the northern coast of the Black Sea, occupying a peninsula of the same name...
(
TauricaTaurica, Tauric Chersonese, and Taurida were names by which the territory of Crimea was known to the Greeks and Romans.- Etymology of the name :...
, in ancient times) and the peninsula of Taman, a kind of continuation of the
CaucasusThe Caucasus, also Caucas or Caucasia , is a geopolitical region at the border of Europe and Asia, and situated between the Black and the Caspian sea...
. This in ancient times seems to have formed a group of islands intersected by arms of the
Kuban RiverThe Kuban River is a river in Russia, in the North Caucasus region. It flows mostly through Krasnodar Krai but also in the Karachay-Cherkess Republic, Stavropol Krai and the Republic of Adygea....
(
Hypanis) and various
soundsIn geography a sound or seaway is a large sea or ocean inlet larger than a bay, deeper than a bight and wider than a fjord; or it may be defined as a narrow sea or ocean channel between two bodies of land ....
now silted up. The straits were called the Cimmerian Bosporus because of the similarity to the
BosporusThe Bosphorus or Bosporus , also known as the Istanbul Strait , is a strait that forms part of the boundary between Europe and Asia. It is one of the Turkish Straits, along with the Dardanelles...
straits between the
Aegean SeaThe Aegean Sea[p] is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea located between the southern Balkan and Anatolian peninsulas, i.e., between the mainlands of Greece and Turkey. In the north, it is connected to the Marmara Sea and Black Sea by the Dardanelles and Bosporus...
and the Black Sea, and after the
CimmeriansThe Cimmerians or Kimmerians were ancient equestrian nomads of Indo-European origin.According to the Greek historian Herodotus, of the 5th century BC, the Cimmerians inhabited the region north of the Caucasus and the Black Sea during the 8th and 7th centuries BC, in what is now Ukraine and Russia...
the equestrian nomads on the steppes north of the Black Sea.
During the Second World War, the Kerch Peninsula was the scene of much desperate combat between forces of the
SovietThe Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
Red ArmyThe Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
and Germany. Fighting frequency intensified in the coldest months of year when the strait froze over, allowing the movement of troops over the ice.
Hitler demanded a three-mile road and rail bridge across the Strait of Kerch in the spring of 1943 to support
a push through the Caucasus to PersiaOperation Edelweiss , named after the mountain flower, was a German plan to gain control over the Caucasus and capture the oil fields of Baku during the Soviet-German War. The operation was authorised by Hitler on 23 July 1942...
, although the Cable Railway (
aerial tramwayAn aerial tramway , cable car , ropeway or aerial tram is a type of aerial lift which uses one or two stationary ropes for support while a third moving rope provides propulsion...
) which went into operation on 14 July with a daily capacity of one thousand tons was adequate for the defensive needs of the
Seventeenth ArmyThe German Seventeenth Army was a World War II field army.-Commanding officers:* General der Infanterie Carl-Heinrich von Stülpnagel * Generaloberst Hermann Hoth...
in the Kuban bridgehead. Because of frequent earth tremors, vast quantities of extra-strength girders of precious steel would be required, and their transport would curtail shipments of military material to the Crimea. Hitler's
bridgehead on the continent of Asia was evacuated in September.
In 1944, the Soviets built a
"provisional" railway bridgeThe Kerch Strait bridge is a proposal for a bridge spanning the Strait of Kerch between the Chushka Spit, Taman Peninsula, Russia and the Kerch Peninsula, Crimea, Ukraine. The current connection is by ferry between Port Kavkaz and Port Krym...
across the strait. Construction made use of supplies captured from the Germans. The bridge was completed in November 1944, but was destroyed by moving ice floes in February 1945; reconstruction was not attempted.
Ferry and bridge transportation
After the war, ferry transportation across the strait was established in 1952, connecting
CrimeaCrimea , or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea , is a sub-national unit, an autonomous republic, of Ukraine. It is located on the northern coast of the Black Sea, occupying a peninsula of the same name...
and the
Krasnodar Krai
(
Port KrymPort Krym is a port in Ukraine. It is located on the western shore of Kerch Strait, in the north-eastern part of Kerch city. Next to the port is located a train station "Krym" as well as a customs/border checkpoint....
–
Port KavkazPort Kavkaz is a small harbour on the Kerch Strait in Krasnodar Krai, Russia. The port may handle the vessels being up to 130 m in length, up to 14'5 m in breadth and with draft up to 5 m...
line). Originally there were four train-ferry ships; later three car-ferry ships were added. Train transportation continued for almost 40 years. The aging train-ferries became obsolete in the late 1980s and were removed from service. In the autumn of 2004, new ships were delivered as replacements and train transportation was re-established.
Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov campaigned for a highway bridge to be constructed across the strait. Since 1944, various bridge projects to span the strait have been proposed or attempted, always hampered by the difficult geologic and geographic configuration of the area. Construction of an approach was actually started in 2003, provoking the
Tuzla IslandTuzla Spit Island is a sandy islet in a form of a spit located in the middle of the Strait of Kerch between the Kerch Peninsula in the west and the Taman Peninsula in the east.-Conflict:...
conflict.
Fishing
Several fish-processing plants are located on the Crimean coast of the strait. Fishing season begins in late autumn and lasts for 2–3 months, when many seiners put out into the strait to fish. The
Taman BayThe Taman Bay is a shallow bay or gulf on the east coast of the Strait of Kerch shaped by the Tuzla and Chushka spits. It dips into the Taman Peninsula of Krasnodar Krai, Russia for about 16 km. The bay is 8 km wide at its mouth and is up to 5 meters deep. Fishing villages and the...
is a major fishing ground, with many fishing villages scattered along the coast.
Autumn storm of 2007
On Sunday 11 November 2007, news agencies reported a very strong storm on the
Black SeaThe Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...
. Four ships sank, six ran aground on a sandbank, and two tankers were damaged, resulting in a major oil spill and the death of 23 sailors.
The Russian-flagged
oil tankerAn oil tanker, also known as a petroleum tanker, is a merchant ship designed for the bulk transport of oil. There are two basic types of oil tankers: the crude tanker and the product tanker. Crude tankers move large quantities of unrefined crude oil from its point of extraction to refineries...
,
Volgoneft-139, encountered trouble in the Kerch Strait where it sought shelter from the above storm. During the storm the tanker split the tanker in half, releasing more than 2000
tonneThe tonne, known as the metric ton in the US , often put pleonastically as "metric tonne" to avoid confusion with ton, is a metric system unit of mass equal to 1000 kilograms. The tonne is not an International System of Units unit, but is accepted for use with the SI...
s of fuel oil. It is thought that the effects of the spill are likely to be felt for many years to come. Four other boats sank in the storm, resulting in the release of sulphur cargo. Efforts to rescue crew members were hampered by the storm.
Another victim of the storm the Russian cargo ship
Volnogorsk loaded with sulphur sunk at
Port KavkazPort Kavkaz is a small harbour on the Kerch Strait in Krasnodar Krai, Russia. The port may handle the vessels being up to 130 m in length, up to 14'5 m in breadth and with draft up to 5 m...
on the same day.