Heavy snowfall hits Georgia’s Black Sea town Batumi, hampers entering ships to the port.
Batumi port has been closed for the fourth days already due to the heavy snow and the magnitude four storm.
The captain of the Batumi port Tengiz Gadilia announced the heavy snow and storm had caused delay in both the schedule of ships and unloading of goods.
On December 30 midday we were warned of an approaching storm. For this reason we have closed the port. The arrival of ships was hampered because of the bad weather. At the same time the port was full and there was no place for the new ships. The last ship arrived on December 30 and the port was closed,” said Gadilia.
In his words, unloading of imported goods from the ships at Batumi port has remained almost suspended for the last four days due to the heavy snow and storm.
Some ships cannot be unloaded as they are covered with snow. It was impossible to unload a ship which was loaded with wheat. There was another ship carried oil and we could not unload that ship as well,” Gadili added.
Meanwhile, the heavy snowfall and frost has created problems for Batumi’s residents. The local ambulance service reported, they received 13 calls concerning ice fall incidents. Batumi Emergency Centre received five injured people.
The head of the Batumi Sanitary Service said clean-up efforts will be carried out in the city.