Second merchant ship leaves Odesa port through Black Sea corridor

byIryna Voichuk

26/08/2023

3 minute read

Credit: Andrii Klymenko, a project lead at the Institute of the Black Sea Strategic Studies

Second merchant ship leaves Odesa port through Black Sea corridor

On 26 August, the Liberian-flagged bulk carrier Primus left the port of Odesa through the temporary Black Sea corridor, MarineTraffic reported. This is the second vessel to sail through the Ukrainian sea corridor after Russia's withdrawal from the Grain Deal on 17 July. According to MarineTraffic, the vessel is sailing towards the Bulgarian port of Varna. The bulk carrier has been in the port of Odesa since 20 February 2022. On 17 August 2023, the container ship Joseph Schulte entered the territorial sea of Bulgaria after passing the territorial sea of Romania and the sea corridor in the territorial sea of Ukraine. Previously, Ukraine has announced temporary routes for commercial vessels sailing to and from the Black Sea seaports of Ukraine

On 17 July 2023, the Russian Federation withdrew from the Black Sea grain initiative, an UN-brokered agreement to unblock Ukraine’s ports and export its grain, and stated that it would not guarantee that it will not attack civilian vessels after that date. The Ukrainian defense ministry mirrored Russia’s threats to ships at sea.
After that, Russia launched massive missile attacks on Odesa and the region with missiles and drones, destroying ports, granaries, residential buildings, and other facilities.
NATO has condemned the Russian attacks but has thus far only vowed to increase surveillance. Meanwhile, Ukraine has changed the course of its grain corridor so that it stays within Romanian waters. Reportedly, the US declined Ukrainian requests to escort commercial vessels in the waters of NATO countries to ensure that the grain corridor keeps functioning.
The Institute for Study of War has observed that Russia seems intent on enforcing a de-facto naval blockade of the Black Sea by intimidating civilian vessels in it. Particularly, a Russian warship told a ship that sailing to Ukraine could get it treated as a military target, according to an intercept shared by Ukrainian officials on 28 July.
In it, a Russian ship used an open channel to contact a ship passing near one of the Ukrainian ports. The Russian ship asked about the ship’s affiliation, what cargo it was carrying, and whether there were any weapons on board. Then, it stated that any transportation to Ukraine is considered by the Russian Federation as potential transportation of military cargo and told that the country under whose flag the ship is flying will be considered by Russia to be involved in the war.