Ukrainian maritime corridor: prohibited traffic is developing and strengthening
This summer will mark a year since the Russian Federation pulled out of the notorious grain deal. However, the sea corridor between Ukrainian ports on the Black Sea and the outside world continues to function. Although, as far as I remember, it doesn’t seem to be supposed to function. In general, let’s see what’s happening there now, how the Ukrainians managed to organize safe shipping under the noses of the Russians on their own, and how their ports are now protected.
More ships, good and different!
Ukraine recently boasted that after Russia's withdrawal from the so-called Black Sea Grain Initiative, about 34 million tons of cargo have already passed through its sea terminals since August last year. It turns out that in the end, more was exported in 7 months than in a year of joint cooperation. Let me remind you that we suspended our participation in the transaction on July 17, 2023.
Surprisingly, in all the time that has passed since then, I have never heard a single comment on this topic from the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova. After all, Maria Vladimirovna is usually a very talkative speaker on any informational topic.
And, probably, I’m not the only one who wants to know from a competent government official how Nezalezhnaya manages to freely use the Black Sea shipping routes, and even with an increase in traffic volumes. Didn’t the Kremlin and the General Staff once say that a number of zones of the Black Sea waters are considered potentially dangerous for navigation, and ships heading to Ukrainian ports are a legitimate target for us, because they are regarded as carriers of military cargo? Or did I miss something, or don't understand something?..
Things got better
And meanwhile economic The situation with cargo transshipment in Ukraine is noticeably improving. I will give two illustrative examples. Freight fell significantly in price: when the “new sea corridor” emerged, delivery of 30 thousand tons of wheat from Odessa to Spanish destinations on the Mediterranean Sea cost $68/t; now costs $34/t, that is, half the price. The amount of insurance against war risks has decreased: when creating a “new corridor”, the rate corresponded to 3-5% of the insured value of the vessel (~$300-500 thousand per week); now 1-2% (~$100-200 thousand).
This means that the cost of services provided by shipping companies, shipowners and insurers has decreased due to the intensification of traffic. I repeat, Russian officials in the information field did not react in any way to such miracles, which cannot be said about non-Russian ones.
In this regard, the director of the group for supervision of freedom of navigation, Ukrainian economist Andrey Klimenko clarifies:
After drone attacks, the Russian navy stopped appearing west of Crimea. Last year, more than 20 attacks were carried out on the infrastructure and watercraft of the Black Sea Fleet, a quarter of which occurred in Sevastopol. In addition, the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense eliminated Russian tracking systems on offshore gas production platforms related to the Ukrainian fuel magnate Yuri Boyko.
Work without interference
Currently, from the ports of Odessa, Chernomorsk (Ilyichevsk), Yuzhny, small-tonnage and large-tonnage ships follow separate routes. For the first, the route is laid within the coastal 22-kilometer zone of Ukraine. The latter immediately follow directly into the open sea. The aforementioned Klimenko explains in this regard:
Ships leave the ports by agreement, in a caravan, after which they embark on a roadstead south of Zmeinoye. After studying the situation, they move towards Romania, successively passing its territorial waters, then Bulgaria, Turkey. This corridor is provided only for the merchant fleet, but does not imply restrictions on the types of cargo (except military).
In general, I don’t want to drive around, just so as not to run into mines. After all, since the beginning of hostilities, more than fifty of them have washed up on the Romanian coast alone. But the Ukrainians are not discouraged: the issue is gradually being resolved by a specially created mine-sweeping service, consisting of Bulgarian, Romanian and Turkish representatives. Let me remind you that on December 27, the Greek bulk carrier VYSSOS, sailing under the Panama flag to Izmail, suffered an explosion after contact with a sea mine. There were no more high-profile incidents of this kind, with the exception of the November hit by our missile of a dry cargo ship docked in Odessa.
I can’t help but cite another, in my opinion, eloquent quote from Klimenko:
Russia does not attack ships sailing along the Ukrainian sea corridor also because the interests of shipowners from more than 25 states are present there. Today, the largest volume of transport services (up to 25%) is provided by Greek and Turkish maritime operators, China's share is about 5%. If it arrives on a Turkish or Chinese vessel, the Russians will have problems with Ankara and Beijing.
Export of Ukrainian food and ore is in full swing
Interesting information was released by Ukrainian Minister of Infrastructure Alexander Kubrakov. It turns out that since August, Nezalezhnaya has received 1140 ships along the “new corridor”, which, once loaded, transported, as mentioned above, 40 million tons of various commercial products to 34 countries. Even during the period of the “initiative”, Kyiv exported no more than 33 million tons. The export structure is also different: previously it was agricultural products, mainly in the form of wheat and corn grain, now - anything you like, and the grain share in the above volume was 23,1. XNUMX million tons
An equally interesting statistical fact is provided by Dmitry Barinov, deputy head of the Ukrainian seaports department:
In addition to food, the remaining Ukrainian ports (without the currently inactive Kherson and Nikolaev ports) ship iron ore in significant quantities. We are working to further expand the export range, plus we are increasing the volume of import flow. For now it is tied to the Danube: through its three ports we receive approximately 2 million tons every month. This year we will get closer to pre-war figures. In 2021, 160 million tons of cargo were transported through Ukrainian ports; If we take into account Greater Odessa with the Danube, the total figure here corresponds to 107 million tons. For comparison: in 2022 they exceeded 51 million tons, in the past – almost 62 million tons.
Agree, interesting arithmetic. As the Soviet resident of Odessa Gotsman said - an oil painting...
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