The attack forced the large ship Maersk suspend operations at the Chornomorsk Fishing Port in the Odesa region this week, directing cargo to the Romanian Port of Constanta. Ukraine says it will still provide security, but ship owners decided to suspend traffic due to increased security threats.
“Earlier, there were also a lot of hits on ships, but most of them were on ships already anchored in the port,” Andrii Klymenko, head of the Black Sea and Baltic Strategic Research Monitoring Group, told POLITICO. Vessel owners have suspended their operations, wanting to see how the situation develops and what new solution Ukraine can find, Klymenko added.
Russia’s actions prompted Ukraine to request an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council to be held on July 27, and to urge all nations to immediately call on Moscow to end its attacks on freedom of navigation in the Black Sea.
The attacks escalated after Ukraine carried out a series of successful attacks against Russian shadow oil tankers in the Azov and Black Seas, forcing Russia to do so. stop exports earlier this month.
But it would be wrong to say that is the answer, because Russia never stopped attacks on Ukrainian ports and cargo, Klymenko said. “This narrative would only help Russia force a maritime ceasefire on us, which would only benefit the Kremlin, as it has to sell oil,” the expert added.
The spokesman of the Ukrainian Navy, Dmytro Pletenchuk, said there is a big difference, because while Russia is freeing ships that operate in a completely legal way, Ukraine is targeting cargo ships that violate maritime laws by illegally transporting approved oil or entering the ports of areas occupied by Ukraine.
“The war at sea is not over. We have already been in such a situation. Yes, the pressure increased, and yes, shipping companies see the risk and reduce operations. But we will continue to work to restore the maximum capacity of our maritime corridor,” Pletenchuk added.
of Russia restriction of Ukrainian ports in 2022 choked off key agricultural products and helped raise global food prices by more than 60 percent by March. But after the Ukrainian navy established a protected maritime zone in the Black Sea, the country sold more than 168.9 million tons cargo through it, including more than 100 million tons of grain, most of it headed for countries in the Southern Hemisphere, despite repeated Russian attacks on the ports of Odesa.
