On November 18, 2016, the staff of the North-Western Basin Branch Kaliningrad Department celebrated the 115^th anniversary of the Kaliningrad Sea Canal.

The festive events were devoted to the most significant event of the year – repair dredging. In 2016, the volume of dredging performed by the Branch amounted to 1,445,370 cub. m., which became a record for the entire 115 years of the Canal existence (previously, the maximum volume of repair dredging had been performed in 2013 and amounted to 950 thousand cub. m.).

The event participants visited the deposition station on the Rybachy peninsula and got acquainted with soil deposition technology and operations performed when repairing and maintaining the coastal heap, as well as plans of canal infrastructure and auxiliary fleet development. Within the event, contests on knowledge of the canal construction history and its specification were conducted among the guests.

The Kaliningrad Sea Shipping Canal was constructed in 1890-1901 and serves for passage of vessels from the Baltic Sea from entrance pierheads of the city of Baltiysk to the double-storey bridge in Kaliningrad and back. Last reconstruction was held in the period of 1979-1986.

The total length of the Canal is 4 km 150 m, the fairway width is 110 m at the section from entrance pierheads to PK12, 80 m at section PK12-PK222 and 50 m in the closed section of the Canal at section PK 222 – 402.5.

The Canal depth at the section of entrance pierheads of the seaport of Baltiysk to berth at PK222 is 10.5 meters, and a passage of vessels with length up to 196 meters and maximum draft 9.6 meters is possible through the Canal. At section from PK222 to the seaport of Kaliningrad, the Canal depth is 9.0 meters and passage of vessels with length up to 170 meters and draft 8.0 meters is allowed through the Canal.

In 2003, by Ministry of Property Relations of the Russian Federation Order No. 6514-r dated 20.11.2003, the Kaliningrad Canal was assigned to economic management of FSUE “Rosmorport”, which is currently engaged in all issues of safe operation and maintenance of its proper technical condition.

In order to ensure safe navigation, the North-Western Basin Branch performs dredging and marine survey. Annual volume of repair dredging performed by the Branch in the Canal amounts to 900 thousand m² of the excavated soil on the average.