The Danube, " le roi des fleuves de l'Europe", as Napoleon Bonaparte used to call it, crosses 1,075 km of the Romania territory and flows into the Black Sea through three branches: Chilia, Sulina and Sfantu Gheorghe which form the famous Danube Delta. Some 300 km before reaching this point the river comes as close as 60 km to the Black Sea coast, along a strait line that crosses the Dobrogea plateau. The dream of the navigators on the Danube has always been to find a shorter way to the sea. According to some archaeological hypotheses, the Carasu Valley must have been an old branch of the Danube or, even a man-made waterway dug by the Romans. What is known for sure is the fact that, in the 18-th century, small fishing boats used this waterway. The idea of a navigable canal between the Danube and the Black Sea has been advanced since 1837, but a group of British experts, in charge with the study of this problem, reached the conclusion that the works required by such a project would have overcome the technical facilities of the time. The Romanian specialists expressed the same idea about a project published in " Gazeta de Transilvania" in 1884. In 1850, the famous Romanian engineer Ion Ionescu de la Brad conceived a new project, but the investment required was too big. In 1885 a road was built and in 1860 a railway was also built to meet the transport needs in the territory between the Danube and the Sea. The first modern project of a navigation system in this area was developed by the Romanian engineer Jean Stoenescu-Dunare, in 1927. Works on a navigable canal between Cernavoda and Constantza have started since 1949, but the Romanian economy of the time could not cope with the high costs involved and could not manufacture the required equipment. So, in 1953 the works were stopped. In 1975, when technical and material condition had been created, the construction works on the Danube - Black Sea Canal started again. Imagined in ancient times, abandoned, designed and redesigned several times in the lapse of 2,000 years, the Danube - Black Sea Canal is the most impressive construction achieved so far in Romania. The collective work of some 30 research and design institutes, this huge plan comprises thousand of projects and more than 33,500 estimates and construction detail projects signed by more than 1,000 specialists. The construction required excavations of about 300 mil. cubic meters of soil and rock. More than 4 million cubic meters of concrete and reinforced concrete were used as well as 24,345 tons of equipment and metal works. The construction lasted 8 years and it was officially inaugurated on the 26th of May 1984. According to the EEC -UNO standards, the Danube - Black Sea Canal ranks in the 6th class of inland canals, the highest class for such constructions. The Danube - Black Sea Canal links the port of Cernavoda with the maritime port of Constantza shortening by some 400 km the route of cargo from the Black Sea to the Danube ports of Central Europe. In addition, using this transport route, the cargo from Australia and Far East bounded for Central Europe shortens its way by 4,000 km. By the opening of the Rhine - Maine Canal (1992), a direct waterway connection has been achieved between the port of Constantza and the Port of Rotterdam. The main advantage of the Danube - Black Sea Canal consists of its direct link with the port of Constantza, the largest maritime port at the Black Sea and, one of the biggest in Europe. The port of Constantza allows the acces of seagoing vessels of up to 165,000 dwt. By the transshipment of cargo into vessels of up to 5,000 dwt or river barges of 3,000 tons forming convoys of up to 6 barges (that is 18,000 tons), an efficient carriage of goods to the center of Europe is provided. Characteristics of convoys: 296 m length, 22.8 m width and 3.8 drafts.