Ninety-six ships stuck in grain corridor due to Russia’s actions

The electronic queue made it possible to make transparent the planning of entry and exit of ships in the ports of Odesa region but it does not solve the problems of inspection in the Bosphorus.

„It was fundamentally important for USPA to implement a process that would be transparent and understandable for the market. We did it by analogy with the Danube ports and launched an electronic queue. But no matter what effective planning tools we implement, Russia has a destructive position in the operation of the grain corridor,” Oleksiy Vostrikov, Head of the SE „Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority”, posted on Facebook.

According to him, it is precisely because of the position of Russia, which blocks work in the Bosphorus, that an average of 3.5 ships pass through the strait per day, instead of 24-30.

„We already saw last month a queue in the Bosphorus with more than 150 ships that were idle there for more than 30 days. Then we solved the problem together with the UN and Turkey. Today, such a trend is being repeated,” the USPA head emphasized.

Currently, the queue in the Bosphorus has already reached 96 ships and will grow if the number of inspections is not increased.

According to the USPA, the situation with Russia blocking the operation of the grain corridor is discussed at daily industry meetings and weekly meetings with agricultural market participants. Ukraine has already sent a corresponding appeal to the initiative partners – the UN and Turkey.

As a reminder, on October 26, the State Enterprise „Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority” launched an electronic queue for the ships heading to the ports of Odesa region through the grain corridor. In October, Russia deliberately began to delay the full-fledged implementation of the grain initiative, resulting in a queue of ships loaded with Ukrainian agricultural products in the Bosphorus.

Source: ukrinform.net