Despite the maritime blockade imposed by Moscow in the Black Sea, cargo ships left Ukrainian ports in August to sail in the Black Sea, according to Ukrainian authorities. They were the first to sail from the Ukrainian port of Odessa since Russia’s withdrawal from the Black Sea grain agreement, which ended security guarantees for grain ships circulating in this sea under high tension.
Via a new “humanitarian corridor” set up by Ukraine for this purpose, a first container ship, the Joseph Schulte, with the Hong Kong flag and transporting 30,000 tonnes of goods to Istanbul, left the port of Odessa on August 16 , a first “important step in restoring freedom of navigation in the Black Sea”, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaking on the X platform (formerly Twitter). On August 27, a second blocked cargo ship, with the Liberian flag, left the port city, detailed the Ukrainian Minister of Infrastructure, Oleksandr Kubrakov, still on X.
Then, on September 1, the latter announced the departure of two other ships from a Ukrainian port on the Black Sea: “The bulk carriers Anna-Theresa (flying the flag of Liberia) and Ocean Courtesy (Marshall Islands) left the port of Pivdennyi and walk down the hallway, he said. They are transporting 56,000 tonnes of pig iron and 172,000 tonnes of iron ore concentrate”, he welcomed X. This corridor established by the Ukrainian authorities should allow the evacuation of “ships that were in Ukrainian ports at the time of the Russian invasion in February 2022”, according to Oleksandre Kubrakov.
In one year, the agreement negotiated with the UN had notably made it possible to export 33 million tonnes of agricultural products from Ukraine to 45 countries and on three continents. Since its failure, from July, Ukrainian and Russian military forces have intensified their military activities in the Black Sea. Moscow then warned of a “risky” situation in this maritime region where ships would be considered military targets, while kyiv harasses the Russian fleet and its ports with its naval drones.
The two ships then took the route decreed by the Ukrainian authorities on August 10, validated by the International Maritime Organization (IMO). This is a new temporary corridor to allow the passage of ships docked in the Ukrainian ports of Chornomorsk, Odessa and Pivdenny.
The new route runs along the coast of Ukraine bordering the Black Sea, and remains in Ukrainian and Romanian territorial waters, underlines the analyst of the Crisis Group think tank Oleg Ignatov. “Some companies and businesses have therefore obtained insurance approval to be able to circulate. For the moment, they are still in a trial period, ”he interprets.
Despite the risks, no Russian attacks have been reported on the two cargo ships. According to the analyst, Moscow would indeed have a lot to lose: firstly regarding its image, because they are civilian ships and, presumably, unarmed. And, since they are traveling near the Ukrainian coast, Russia could face a counterattack from the Ukrainians and their anti-aircraft defenses. “It then appears difficult for Russia to make its threat credible,” concludes Oleg Ignatov, “because Russia does not want to enter into a tanker war either, as it needs its exports passing through the Black Sea.”
“If Russia does not attack merchant ships coming from and going to Ukraine, there could be a tacit agreement between the parties,” explains Oleg Ignatov.
This Monday, Vladimir Putin received in Sochi, in the south-west of Russia, his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan, intermediary in the thorny file of Ukrainian grain exports. No major progress has been unveiled, but Vladimir Putin once again says he is ready to “consider the possibility of resuscitating the agreement” as soon as his exports of agricultural products are no longer hampered.