208 FOREIGN TRADE ZONES
Owing to the absence of all agricultural and industrial enterprise,
there are no warehouses, grain arriving here in lighters carrying up
to 2,500 tons for transshipment and being loaded directly on board
pcean-going craft.
There are no rail and highway connections, communication with
the outer world being entirely by water. Local ferryboats ply with
the upriver ports in the summer time, while during the winter months,
i. e., December to March, when the river is frozen, the mails are
brought overland by carts from Tulcea and Galatz. The harbor is
seldom closed to navigation by ice, and loading operations continue
all the winter, as the grain intended for winter shipments, from
100,000 to 300,000 tons, finds its way down the river in lighters before
the ice sets in.
Administration.—While the policing of the river is under the juris-
diction of the European commission of the Danube, possessing sov-
ereign rights, the territorial authority, Rumania, polices the town and
controls the customhouse. Vessels entering are subject to customs
control and the guard consists of a detachment of 130 frontier guards.
The administration of the port costs the Government only the upkeep
of the officers above mentioned. The European commission pays for
the expenditure incurred on all works carried out on the river, taxes
being charged to steamers to cover these latter outlays, which
normally amount to £100,000 per annum.
Operations permitted in free zone.—Operations in connection with
the loading and discharging of steamers and shipping in general are
permitted in the free zone, while the manipulation of petroleum and
oil residues is carried out in a special zone at the lower end of the
port.
Operations prohibited in free zome.— There are no operations which
are prohibited in the free zone.
Dispatch secured in unloading vessels.—The loading of steamers is
carried out by floating elevators capable of discharging up to 120
tons per hour, and work can be continued night and day. When
these operations are affected by hand labor a discharging rate of 500
tons per day can be relied upon. Dispatch in other Rumanian ports
is similar to that obtained in the free port of Sulina.
Reconsignment trade, nature, exteni—There is no reconsignment
trade, Sulina being but a port of call for ocean-going steamers on
their way to the terminals of Galatz and Braila.
Transshipment trade, nature, extent.—The transshipment trade is
entirely confined to grain, timber, and oil cake brought here from
upriver ports in lighters and loaded direct on ocean-going steamers.
