U.S. equipment is helping the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine and the Odesa Port Authority protect and maintain the Black Sea Humanitarian Corridor, which has so far shipped approximately 850 ships and 52 million tons of grain and cargo that will feed the world and support Ukraine’s economy, U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink said.
“It’s great to be back in the thriving and courageous port city of Odesa, world-renowned for its rich cultural heritage. Even in the face of Russia’s daily attacks, Odesa stands firm on the Black Sea,” she said at the Black Sea Security Forum in Odesa.
The U.S. Ambassador said she regularly visits Odesa, meeting with local authorities, border guards, port workers and Odessans. These meetings allow her to form an idea of the problems facing the city and prove the determination of the residents to protect the city and its ports.
Three bulk carriers with agricultural products and iron ore have left the ports of Chornomorsk and Pivdennyi, and five new vessels are heading to the ports for loading, said Deputy Prime Minister and Head of the Ministry of Reconstruction Oleksandr Kubrakov.
“Bulk carriers AZARA, YING HAO 01, ENEIDA (flags of Liberia and Palau) exported more than 127 thousand tons of Ukrainian agricultural products and iron ore,” he wrote on Facebook on Sunday.
According to the Deputy Prime Minister, 5 new vessels are being loaded at the ports of Greater Odesa: bulk carriers OLGA, IDA, DANNY BOY, FORZA DORIA, NEW LEGACY export almost 120 thousand tons of Ukrainian grain to Africa and Europe.
The number of ships in the port of Izmail (Odessa region) increased to 111 on Monday against 48 last week, according to data from the Marine Traffic monitoring application. The arrival of 33 vessels is expected.
The number of vessels in the port of Reni increased to 33 vessels on Monday against 12 last week. 11 vessels are expected to arrive.
At the same time, last Wednesday the number of vessels in the port of “Izmail” increased to 60 – in the port of “Izmail” and in the port of “Reni” – 13. On Saturday the number of ships in the port “Izmail” was already 72, while in “Reni” it was reduced to six.
In comparison, in the Russian port “Novorossiysk” the number of ships remained unchanged – 136 this Monday against 137 last week, 72 ships are expected to arrive.
The ports of Greater Odessa have not resumed their work after the termination of the “grain initiative”.
Earlier it was reported that due to the Russian night attack in the middle of last week on the seaport “Izmail” and the infrastructure of the “Ukrainian Danube Shipping Company” destroyed 40 thousand tons of grain, which was expected by African countries, China and Israel.
In addition, about 10 residential houses, 15 apartments, hotel and office buildings of the “Ukrainian Danube Shipping Company” and an educational institution were damaged or destroyed.
After the attack on Wednesday night last week, two ships heading to the port of Izmail for loading refused to moor.
As reported, Ukraine announced a military threat to ship navigation in the waters of six Russian ports on the Black Sea.
The Ukrainian Defense Ministry released a statement in which it warns that all ships that from July 21 will go to the ports of the Russian Federation or occupied Ukrainian ports may be considered as carrying military cargo.
In addition, according to the warning, navigation in the areas of the Northeastern Black Sea and the Kerch-Yenikal Strait of Ukraine is prohibited as dangerous, from 05:00 on July 20, 2023.
The day before, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that all vessels, regardless of the flag, which will be heading to Ukrainian ports from midnight, July 20, Russia will consider as involved in the military conflict.
The number of ships in the port of Izmail (Odessa region), according to data from the Marine Traffic monitoring application, decreased to 48 on Monday, compared to 120 last week. 22 vessels are expected to arrive.
The number of vessels at the port of Reni decreased to 12 on Monday, compared to 58 last week. Another nine vessels are expected to arrive.
The number of vessels in the port of “Izmail” has been decreasing since Thursday, on Friday there were 113 vessels in the port, 21 vessels were expected to arrive. On Sunday the number of vessels dropped to 99 and another 25 vessels were expected to arrive.
At the port of Reni on Thursday, there were 52 vessels at the port and 12 were expected. On Sunday it was 33 and 11 were expected.
The ports of Greater Odessa did not resume work after the termination of the “grain initiative”.
Earlier it was reported that due to the Russian night attack on Wednesday night on the seaport “Izmail” and the infrastructure of the “Ukrainian Danube Shipping Company” destroyed 40 thousand tons of grain, which was expected by African countries, China and Israel.
In addition, about 10 residential houses, 15 apartments, hotel and office buildings of the “Ukrainian Danube Shipping Company” and an educational institution were damaged or destroyed.
After the attack on Wednesday night, two ships heading to the port of Izmail for loading refused to dock.
Ukraine is increasing the displacement of Grain Initiative ships in order to increase exports and reduce ship downtime in the current conditions of sabotage of ship inspections by the Russian side, the Ministry of Restoration reported.
“In particular, for grain – from 20,000 tonnes to 25,000 tonnes, and for oil – from 6,000 tonnes to 10,000 tonnes. Considering that the average number of inspections of the incoming fleet is only 2.5 ships per day, the increase should be expected in a month and a half,” the ministry said on Facebook on Monday.
It also indicated that the ports of Greater Odesa last week sent 1.1 million tonnes of agricultural products as part of the grain initiative.
“In particular, 54,000 tonnes of wheat were sent to Sri Lanka, 57,000 tonnes to Bangladesh, and 90,000 tonnes are expected in Kenya, Tunisia and Egypt,” the ministry said.
According to the ministry, exports via the grain corridor last week increased by 152,000 tonnes compared to the previous week, but the overall rate of new ships entering for loading continues to decline.
“Last week, the ports of Greater Odesa accepted only 16 ships, the day before last – 25,” the department added.
At the same time, as of February 12, some 145 vessels are already awaiting inspection by the Joint Coordination Centre (JCC), of which 122 are heading to Ukrainian ports for agricultural products.
For comparison, by January 18, 121 ships (28 with agricultural products on board, 93 ships that went to ports for loading) were waiting for the JCC inspection in the Bosphorus, 104 ships on January 13, some 98 on January 10, and 95 on December 26.
“For the third month in a row, Russians have been purposefully sabotaging inspections under various unfounded and sometimes absurd pretexts,” the ministry said.
There are 18 vessels in the ports of Greater Odesa. They load 584,500 tonnes of Ukrainian food. Only one vessel moves along the grain corridor after the inspection.
In total, since August 1, a total of 732 ships left the ports of Greater Odesa, which exported 21 million tonnes of Ukrainian food to the countries of Asia, Europe and Africa. According to the estimates of the Ministry of Restoration, this volume should have amounted to more than 35 million tonnes in the conditions of the normal functioning of the grain initiative.
Three bulkers loaded with wheat, corn and sunflower oil departed from Ukrainian ports on Tuesday, the Joint Coordination Centre (JCC) said.
“The Joint Coordination Centre (JCC) reports that three vessels left Ukrainian ports today [December 6] carrying a total of 91,050 metric tonnes of grain and other food products under the Black Sea Grain Initiative,” the JCC said.
MV Sugar will deliver 37,500 tonnes of sunflower oil to India, MV Alexandros III will transport 31,050 tonnes of corn to Spain, and MV Moayad Y loaded with 22,500 tonnes of wheat is destined for Turkey.
Six ships transited the maritime humanitarian corridor on December 6 on their way to Ukrainian ports.
“As of 6 December, the total tonnage of grain and other foodstuffs exported from the three Ukrainian ports is 13,136,453 metric tonnes. A total of 1,057 voyages (529 inbound and 528 outbound) have been enabled so far,” the JCC said.
