Near the Danube, 100 ships were stranded. Almost a third of them must take shipments of Ukrainian grain from Ukrainian ports.
In the Black Sea near the Danube, a multi-day traffic jam formed due to Ukrainian grain. Romania has no time to register ships with Ukrainian exports. This was reported by Forbes on May 26.
It was noticed that about 100 ships were in the Black Sea near the Romanian port of Sulina, waiting to pass through the Sulina Sea Canal. It is the most convenient and deepest way to the Danube ports of Ukraine, Romania and Moldova. Nearly a third of stranded ships are supposed to pick up Ukrainian grain cargoes from Ukrainian ports on the Danube.
According to the founder of consulting company The Charterers Oleg Solodukhov, Romania lacks pilots to navigate the canal because they are not prepared for the increase in Ukrainian freight traffic. Cargo owners reported that the Romanian side passed through the canal with no more than five ships per day, which was several times less than necessary.
“A two-week demurrage at the mouth of the Danube costs freight owners about a third of the cost of freight. Now shipowners charge freight time not from the moment they enter at the port, but from the moment they get stuck in a traffic jam., “said Oleg Solodukhov.
This leads to additional losses of $ 150-200 thousand for a batch of 3000-6000 tons of any shipment.
According to sources in the Ministry of Infrastructure, Ukraine has offered Romania several options for unblocking the channel. In particular, to increase the period of permissible movement of vessels by two hours – now the canal operates only during daylight hours. Also allow the passage of ships at night in case there is a traffic jam and increase the maximum speed limit. Moreover, it is suggested to register incoming vessels at the roadstead while awaiting entry, and not at the port of Sulina itself.
Also, the ministry proposed to attract additional border posts and customs inspection at the port of Sulina to inspect at least six ships simultaneously.
At the same time, Ukraine offered to transfer pilots from Ukraine’s closed ports along with boats to Romania. At the same time, Sokolov said it would not solve the problem of shortage of pilots, as retraining takes at least a year.
Recall that President Volodymyr Zelensky called on the world to help create a corridor for grain exports from Ukrainian ports, as Russia’s blockade could lead to a shortage of grain and vegetable oil in the world. .
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Source: korrespondent
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.