Passengers at Kerch crossing complain of long lines and wait times
Passengers complain that the waiting time in a queue on the Kerch ferry crossing takes up to 7-10 hours. People are actively discussing the collapse on the Kerch crossing in social media, posting photos of car queues on the ferry crossing. According to them, they have to wait for several hours in collector. Huge traffic jams were reported in front of collectors.
“We drove a car into the first collector at 1:00 PM, waiting fifth in line. We were informed that it would take 1.5 to 2 hours to load those with electronic tickets. The waiting time without electronic tickets takes up to 8-9 hours,” one of the crossing passengers reported on the 8th of August.
Traffic jams were observed by people leaving the peninsula at Krym port and by people who entered Crimea at Kavkaz port as well. “Kavkaz port, we came to a traffic jam in front of the first collector on the 7th of August at 9:45 PM. We spent 7 hours and 40 minutes getting through on an electronic ticket,” another passenger shared.
“The waiting time took 11 hours. They let me pass with a child through the service drive. The employees at the parking lot passed expensive cars to the end of the outgoing line,” Andrey wrote. The press service of the Maritime Directorate that monitors the work of the crossing reported 6-7 hours of waiting. The Agency explained that a large influx of people wished to use crossing services. That is why the inspection of vehicles took more time.
According to the Directorate, approximately 800-1000 cars from each side accumulated at Krym and Kavkaz ports on the morning of August 8th. In the evening, the Directorate of Kerch crossing reported on strengthening of security measures. It was on the morning of the previous day that the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine reported that Russian Services in the territory of annexed Crimea ceased to pass vehicles and passengers into the territory of peninsula for reasons unknown.
A few hours later, Russia resumed passage through Dzhankoy (Chonhar). Tension and load at the checkpoints of administrative border also remained on August 8th. The ferry crossing through the Kerch Strait is a main transport artery connecting Crimea with Krasnodar Krai of the Russian Federation. According to Ukrainian legislation, entry to Crimea through the Kerch Strait is prohibited and amounts to illegally crossing the state border.