Port of Giurgiulești


The Port of Giurgiulești is a port on the Danube River and the largest port in Moldova. It is also a port on Prut River.
It is Moldova's only port accessible to seagoing vessels, situated at km 133.8 of the River Danube in the South of Moldova. It operates both a grain and an oil terminal as well as a passenger terminal. The building of an oil terminal started in 1996 and it was launched on October 26, 2006. Giurgiulești passenger port was officially opened on March 17, 2009, when the first sea passenger trip Giurgiulești-Istanbul-Giurgiulești was launched. The Grain Transhipment Terminal was opened on July 24, 2009. A container facility was added in 2012. As of 2015 a second grain terminal was under construction. The port has only 1,476 feet on the shore of the river with room remaining for one additional terminal. Volume shipped through the port in increased 65% in 2014.
The port is managed by a Dutch firm, Danube Logistics, which, with the aid of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, has invested $60 million in the project. There are 460 employees, half from the village of Giurgiulești which is half a mile inland. As of 2015 there were no facilities in Giurgiulești which catered to travelers or visiting crewmen.
It has a status of free economic zone until 2030.
The Port of Giurgiulești was built as result of a 2005 territorial exchange with Ukraine, where Moldova received a 600 m-long bank of the Danube River.