THE PORT OF CONSTANTA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00810A007400660011-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 21, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 4, 2008
• Sequence Number: 11
• Publication Date: July 15, 1955
• Content Type: REPORT

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CENfiRAI IIVT'EIUGENCE AGENCY
Thin material contains information s~eCtiIIQ the xat/ooal Defense of the DA1tad egga y~ the meanlns of the idplona~e Lwc, Title
18, U.B.C. Secs. 793 and ?9{, the tranemlWOp or retaLtlon of whbh 1a w7 asanner tow unautsarlasd Demon L DroRibited by law.
$-s-C~R~l~T
COUNTRY ~1aA1a
SudJECT The port of Constants
DATE OF INFO.
PLACE ACQUIRED
DATE ACQUIRED
REPOR~
DATE DISTR.
NO. OF PAGES
REQUIREMENT
REFERENCES
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-~ --"' -< "`~ Y++~ ~ wuv was eeCOrLe~
all a
guard and proceeded to enter the
t
le To enter the port, true cours? 355 xas tollored up to the Brat buoy and
at 1e5 ailes tram. the second buoy, by tolloxing true course 265, the ship
headed straight for the port ~ltrance.
2e Tihi.le at anchor outai tram 221,5 hours o! 5 May to 0030 hours
of 6 1rlay, on the strip of ].and aouthsreat of
Constanta~ a about txo miles tram the coast, there xaa gunnery practise
xith tracer bullets (small arms and machine guns), The machine gun fire
xaa in spurts of ten bullets, but oa occasion they also tired single aboua.
The tracer bullets xere of a re~.yella~r-~.~ Dolor; otters the three colors
Comsrged on a point about one kilometer troy the point of origin and at
another point about tMO kilametere up in the airs It xaa noticed that the
bullets became heinous at about X50 to 184 metesa tram th? point xhere
they xere aotual,lr being tired, The sons in xhich Chia gunnsr~-~ praetice
. orth ]~.at~i~e and 280l~6'~Falset ~~1 ooordinatees 4409'30"
r
of the grain ele-ators at 0100 hours po ,casting anchors in trout
by th? medical aalthor3tiss. ~t 1000~ho~t 0830 hours, the ship xas cleared
aiaaion of ~ the ship xu riaited by a cam_
Port authorities divided as tollewas taro cuatama otficiala in
cirilian clothing xho place the ships atore~ the ahip~s binoculars,
cameras and radio under seal; tw ottieers xith three stars on their
epaulettes; eight non-eau and soldiers all dressed in fatigues xho
checked the ship-a quarters; one port ottioial and one Iatlott employee,
!~. The visit on the part of the abare-mentioned authorities ended at 1100
Tours at xhich tine the ship moved to Wiring position 80, 37 for retheling
operations. These operations be as st and ended at 1700 ~~~
Ti~llile at this position, the pier is is very good
condition and that direet],p in A~olrt of sworiag position l~oe 37 there is
a small, xhite houa? equipped xith a telephone. The xhite house xaa
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accessible only to the militarT gaard on patrol along the pier. Lleo
noticed on the sane prier were a large number of iron drama probabljr tilled
with bitumen.
5. l-fter refueling the. ship maned from mooring position 1To. 37 to mooring
position lio. 3 . actual loading operations began at 0800 on 7 May 1955.
Qn the dock there were various piles of Haber and various little huts
housing the ofricea of the personnel checking incoming and outgoing habsr.
The dock is fully efficient on the south aide. Its north side is still
damaged trove the war.
6. While in port,
the f ollaring freighters s
(see sketch)
a. Russian tanker, 1WZaSaI, equipped with radar; new construction; dia-
placeeent about 17,000 to 18,000 tone. It arrived the morning of
6 My and left on ? My st 1700 hours after having taken on a cargo
of ornde oil.
b.
d.
aZULE, which had been in port prior to arrival of
xhioh left on 6 My.
OTIB, which had beenn in port prior to arrival of
~ yc! which left o?6 May.
trei ter, ~I.I, which was in port prior to arrival of
~~ and which left on 8 My with a cargo of oeaent in
e. trsi ter XLLffi~ gUQO 3TIl~ffi I 25X1
a full cargo of sugar c xaa ac .
e fr~hter took on a cargo o! ~rheat at position a-1 on the attached
sketch. 25X1
f. 0 freighter, affi~iAIg1 IS90I~I, which left For Beirut with a cargo 25X1
o! lumber. __. .. ._
h.
freighter, R06A.LB~A (g-1, g-2, g-3), which arrived on 6 May
end left on 12 Mapr with. a cargo of lumber for Baplea, Ital3r~
Frei hter, TR?1~TIA, which had been in port rior to arrival
ship and which called on ll May. ship
overtook the freighter and followed its sage oourse uP
to the island of Tedndoa, at which point the freighter
directed its course towards Lsro.
i. RB~LO which arrived on 7 May, took on a cargo
of corn and left on 10 May.
~. Rumanian !'~eighter, ARDEaL, displacement about 16-18,000 tons; old
ship idle in port.
k. Passenger ship of unlmown flag obeerPed prior to their
landing. Its displacement was estimated at about 10,000 Lana. The
passenger ship left the morning after arrival.
a
it was a'8assian paaeenger ship and that it had come from
The ultimate destination was not learned.
1. freighter of about 2,000 tone displacement loaded with c scent.
m. Floating drydock occupied by a freighter of about 2,000 tone under-
going reQaira. On one side of the ock there were two destroyers
also undergoing repairs.
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n. ~aani.an training ship, MIF~CF1, which sailed at 0800 of 9 Ma, and
returned that same evening.
o. Military Zones On entering the port, Itxo 8wanian
destroyers at anchor and three cervettea. These ships sailed during
the night o! 5-b M~ and, during the morning of 6 Mai, shots coa].d be
heard outside of Constants harbor indicating that the ships rare
engaging in gnnnety practice.
p. 1~Tork on the iaatallation of aiz cranes located on the dock north of
the port in front of the nex xarehousea has been completed. One of
these cranes xas being used to lay new railroad tracks along the dock.
q. The canal running underground and in front of the aeu xarehouses rap
the poxer station has been completed and covered. It has not been
possible to ascertain the purpose of this canal.
r. Heir xarehouse under conatraation.
s. Portion of dock under repair.
t. In back of the poxer station are two large, underground storage tanks
!or naphtha The tanks have a diaweter o! about twenty meters and rise
above grannd for about 50 centimeters.
?. The ~ destroyers mentioned in parmgra~ph 6-0
and xsre actaal],y seen outside o! Constants harbor
on May engaged in gunnery practice. On the acme date, the three corvettes
xers seen steaming out to the open sea at an estimated speed o! twelve knots.
The corvettes xere anted xith one cannon forward (estimated caliber, 76s?)
and ?arions machine grans. The estimated length of the craft xas 1r0 meters
and the displaceuent xaa nod greater than 200 tons. The firing diataac?
betxeen the destroyers and the target xas estimated at two miles. Target
practice for machine gan fire xaa condnated at a range of three-gaarters
of a mile.
8. (}eneral observations: It is reported that, both in the fiananian Navy and
the R~nanian llreq, there are Soviet otticere and men who xear R~ananian
unitoisu.
S-E-C-R,.E?.T
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