Dozens of high-tonnage vehicles wait for days in a row, near the city of Isaccea, Romania, to cross the Danube by ferry and reach Orlivka, Ukraine, and in the absence of an arranged parking lot, the trucks congest both the road to the Cocos monastery in the Niculitel commune, and also to the stone quarry on the outskirts of the city and is stationed including within the Noviodunum archaeological site, one of the most important in Tulcea county.

Some people who live near the places established by the authorities in the city for parking large tonnage vehicles are dissatisfied because of the noise made by the refrigeration units of the trucks, and the person in charge of the Noviodunum archaeological site, Aurel Stanica, representative of the Eco-Museum Research Institute, wants that drivers should no longer throw garbage in the site, and tourists’ access to the archaeological base should no longer be blocked by trucks.

Noviodunum Citadel is not video monitored, so food scraps can be thrown on the site without the risk of fines.

„For three days, I’ve been staying in the city or nearby. What do we lack here? A toilet, a shower and hot local food,” said one of the truck drivers who is about to enter Isaccea customs, Serghei, from Odessa.

About five kilometers from the town of Isaccea, on the road leading to the Cocos monastery, another line of trucks begins next to two full bins. All of them are waiting to arrive at the Romanian-Ukrainian customs and cross the Danube by barge, a more convenient transport option in the conditions in which it shortens the journey and limits expenses compared to the route that involves the transit of Giurgiulesti customs, Galati county.

According to the data provided by the Coast Guard, in the last 24 hours, about 2,200 people entered Romania, in the last 24 hours, through the customs in the city of Isaccea, and about 2,400 people left Romania through the same crossing point the border.

„Between February 24, 2022 and August 4, 2024, through the Isaccea border crossing point, 864,117 people entered Romania and 854,611 people left Romania,” stated the spokesperson of the Border Police, Alexandra Gavan.

Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, Isaccea customs workers have carried out over 400,000 formalities for the entry and exit of vehicles from the country.

Noviodunum is one of the most important ancient fortresses on the Danube, being the last ford of the river to the Black Sea. The fortress was the main station of the Roman fleet Classis Flavia Moesica, the fleet that controlled the lower course of the Danube and the northern and western shores of the Black Sea, and in the 6th century it was an episcopal seat.

The city of Isaccea is part of the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve (RBDD), included in the UNESCO heritage, and an area of the Delta is located on the territory of Ukraine.

AGERPRES