Odessa, Ukraine

Odessa, Ukraine: Submarine Cable Landing Point

Odessa is a major seaport city located on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea, in southwestern Ukraine. As a longstanding maritime hub, the city hosts submarine cable infrastructure connecting Ukraine to other nations across the Black Sea. One submarine cable is confirmed to land at Odessa, placing it among the three submarine cable landing points currently established in Ukraine.

The single cable landing at Odessa is the Kardesa system, a draft cable due for readiness in 2027. Kardesa links Ukraine with Bulgaria, Georgia, and Turkey, forming a Black Sea corridor that spans multiple countries along both the western and eastern shores of the sea. This intercontinental and regional connectivity positions Odessa as a node within a network that bridges Eastern Europe, the South Caucasus, and Anatolia.

Cables Landing at Odessa

Kardesa is a submarine cable system with a total length of 1,385 km, currently in draft status with a projected ready-for-service year of 2027. In addition to Odessa, Ukraine, the cable connects to landing points in Bulgaria, Georgia, and Turkey. Its route spans the Black Sea, linking the northwestern coast of Ukraine with the Bulgarian coast to the southwest, the Turkish coast to the south, and the Georgian coast to the east. As a multi-country system, Kardesa creates direct submarine links between Ukraine and three distinct national networks across the Black Sea basin.

Regional Context

Ukraine has three submarine cable landing points in total: Odessa, Kerch, and Osoviny, each hosting one cable. Odessa sits alongside these peers as an equal contributor to Ukraine's overall submarine cable count. Within this small national network, all three landing points serve distinct coastal segments and cable corridors.

Network Role

Odessa functions as a single-cable terminus, with the forthcoming Kardesa system as its sole submarine connection. Once Kardesa reaches its 2027 service date, Odessa will provide Ukraine with direct submarine cable access to Bulgaria, Georgia, and Turkey simultaneously, spanning the full breadth of the Black Sea within a single cable system. This makes the landing point notable for the geographic diversity of its connections relative to the length of a single cable route.

Within the Black Sea submarine cable graph, Odessa represents one of the northwesternmost landing points, and its participation in Kardesa extends Ukraine's submarine reach toward both the western Balkans and the South Caucasus in a single infrastructure deployment.