Kyiv, July 13: A traffic jam of more than 130 cargo ships loaded with Ukrainian grain is waiting in the Black Sea to pass into the Danube as negotiators from Moscow, Kyiv, the UN and Turkey began talks in Istanbul on easing Ukrainian agricultural exports.
The ships are waiting to access exit routes through the Sulina and Bystre estuary canals to reach a series of ports and terminals in Romania from where the grain can be transported on around the world.
Ukraine is the world’s leading wheat exporter, accounting for 9% of the global market. It also accounts for 42% of the sunflower oil market and 16% of world corn production.
Owing to Russia’s blockade of Black Sea ports and a plethora of mines along the coast, 20m to 25m tons of wheat are stuck in Ukraine, pushing up world grain prices.
Maritime tracking services showed a logjam of ships waiting to pass into the Danube since a second route through the Bystre estuary was opened after the recent Russian retreat from the nearby Snake Island.
Previously, ships had been able to pass into the Danube only via the Sulina canal, whose passage is one way, with cargo vessels having to wait weeks to pass through.
Although large carriers cannot pass through the Bystre estuary, limiting the amount of grain that can be exported, Ukrainian officials said that already 16 ships had transited the Bystre route in the four days since it reopened.
With mined ports and a Russian blockade on Ukraine’s south coast limiting maritime traffic, the northern branch of the Danube delta, which follows Ukraine’s southern border, and small riverine ports have taken on global importance amid warnings of famine in parts of Africa as Ukraine’s grain has been kept from the international market and prices have rocketed.
