KYIV- Dozens of ships are backed up around critical Danube arteries close to Ukraine’s river gateways days after Russian drone attacks on the country’s ports, shipping data showed on Tuesday.
The river and its mouth are Ukraine’s last remaining waterborne grain export route.
Russia has attacked the agricultural and port infrastructure of Ukraine, one of the world’s top grain exporters, in recent weeks after refusing to extend a year-old safe passage grain corridor brokered by the United Nations and Turkey – effectively shutting Ukraine’s Black Sea ports.
These included the Danube ports of Izmail and Reni, shipping sources said.
At least 30 ships had dropped anchor around Musura Bay in the Black Sea, which leads into a channel that links up with Izmail further along the waterway, tracking data from analytics company MarineTraffic showed on Tuesday.
There were at least 20 ships anchored leading up to Izmail.
“It is impossible to transport the entire volume by river or rail,” Ukraine’s First Deputy Agriculture Minister Taras Vysotskiy told national television.
“In order to export all the grain, the Black Sea ports need to be reopened.”
In addition, there were at least 20 commercial ships waiting close to the Romanian port of Constanta, the MarineTraffic data showed. Many of the vessels had reported their destination as Romanian ports.
“The two Ukrainian ports continue to reel from the Russian attacks. It took time to reorganize, re-establish communication,” Florin Uzumtoma, navigation director for Romania’s Danube administration agency, said.
“Not all the ships clustered on the water want to enter Romania. Some of them are just waiting in safe waters. There are anchor spots on the Danube and they are just waiting there until they are ready to meet all the formalities to cross.” – Reuters
