The Kerch Strait (in Russian, Керченский пролив) connects the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, separating the Crimea in the west from the Taman peninsula in the east. The strait is 4.5 to 15 km (3-11 mi) wide and up to 18 meters deep. The most important harbor is the city of Kerch.
Ferry transportation across the strait was established in 1952, connecting the Crimea and the Krasnodar Krai (Port Krym - Port Kavkaz line). Originally there were four train-ferry ships; later three car-ferry ships were added. Train transportation continued for almost 40 years. Train-ferries became old in the late 1980s and were removed from operation. In autumn of 2004 new ships were delivered as replacements and train transportation has been re-established.
Several attempts have been made to build a bridge across the Kerch Strait to replace the ferry, but the difficult geological configuration of the area makes bridge projects too expensive.
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.
In ancient times the Kerch Strait was known as the Cimmerian Bosporus; it is also known by its Tatar name, Yenikale.
The city of Kerch lies near the middle of the strait, on the Crimean side, in Ukraine.
In 2003, Russia's building of a sea dike from the S Taman peninsula toward Ukraine's Tuzla island in the strait provoked a crisis; construction was stopped, and a subsequent accord allowed for joint use of the strait and called for the delimiting of the Russian-Ukrainian border.
KerchStrait was the Cimmerian Bosporus of the ancients; it is also known by its Tatar name, Yenikale.
KERCH, or Kertch, a seaport of S. Russia, in the government of Taurida, on the Strait of Kerch or Yenikale, 60 m.
Notwithstanding the deepening of the strait, so that ships are now able to enter the Sea of Azov, Kerch retains its importance for the export trade in wheat, brought thither by coasting vessels.
Its importance was greatly impaired by the rise of Odessa and Taganrog; and in 1820 the fortress was dismantled.
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