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FOREIGN TRADE ZONES
THE FREE PORT OF SULINA, RUMANIA
[From Ely E. Palmer, American consul general, Bucharest, Rumania]

Brief history of the port.—*‘Sulina,” or “Soulina,” has followed the
destinies of the delta; before 1812 it belonged to the principalities,
but by the treaty of Bucharest dated May 28, 1854, it reverted to the
Turkish ‘““sandjak” of Tulcea. In 1826 (treaty of Akerman) the
Russian frontier was extended to the left bank of the Sulina Channel
and a Russian customhouse was established there. In 1829 (treaty
of Adrianople) Russia got down as far as the St. George’s mouth,
but retired altogether from the delta in 1856, and Sulina reverted
once more to the Turkish Government, after having been temporarily
occupied by Austrian troops (1854-1856). During the Russo-Turkish
 War (1877) it was occupied by the Russians in accordance
with the stipulations of the San Stefano treaty, but by the treaty
of Berlin, Sulina came under Rumanian sway.
In 1856, by virtue of the treaty of Paris, a commission was constituted,
 which was styled ‘The European commission of the Danube.”
it consisted of the following delegates from each of the seven contracting
 powers: Austria, the Chevalier de Becke; England, Major
Stokes, R. E.; France, Monsieur Engelhardt; Prussia, Herr Bitter;
Russia, Baron D’Offenburg; Sardinia, Marquis D’Aste; Turkey,
Omar Fetzi Pasha (president). It was charged “to design, and to
cause to be executed, the works necessary, below Isaktcha, to clear
the mouths of the Danube and the neighboring parts of the sea, from
the sands and other impediments which obstructed them, so as to
put that part of the river, and the said parts of the sea, in the best
possible state for navigation’; and in order to cover the expenses of
the necessary works, the commission was authorized to fix and to
levy duties, of a suitable rate, on the express condition that in this
respect, as in every other, the flags of all nations should be treated on a
footing of perfect equality.
The commission commenced its labors in 1858, the depth of water
on the Sulina bar then being 10 feet. To improve this bar depth,
two piers were built seaward, the length of the north pier being
4,631 feet; that of the south pier 3,000 feet; these piers were completed
in 1861, the depth of water rising from 10 to 17 feet.
By 1878 the bar depth had been gradually improved to 2014 feet,
which was maintained by natural causes for a period of 22 years.
In 1895 a depth of 24 feet was obtained, with the assistance of a
dredger, and maintained, with rare occasional fluctuations, until
1914. When the late European War broke out in 1914, dredging
operations had to be entirely suspended for a period of three years,
and owing to the vast deposits formed by four consecutive years of
flood conditions, the depths around the entrance were greatly
reduced