Shipping Suspended on Ukraine’s Black Sea Corridor Due to Increased Attacks
Ukrainian officials reported that for the first time since 2023, there is no traffic on its shipping corridor on the Black Sea. Ship operators reportedly made the decision based on the increased attacks and deaths of seafarers since Russia and Ukraine escalated the attacks on shipping this summer.
Ukrainian government officials are emphasizing that the ports remain open and said it was the decision of individual ship operators. The government is working on a resolution, reported Agricultural Minister Taras Vysotskyi.
This action came after another vessel was struck on Wednesday and set ablaze off Odesa. Ukraine rescued 16 seafarers from the ship, but on Monday, it reported up to 10 were killed on another vessel that was attached. Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed it was attacking ships and ports being used to support Ukraine’s war effort.
Ukraine filed a request for the United Nations Security Council to immediately conduct an urgent investigation, asking for the meeting on July 27. It is calling Russia’s actions targeted terrorism and accuses Russia of endangering the world’s food supply.
Prosecutors in the Odesa region are asserting that Russia has struck 28 commercial ships in the past month. They said that 21 seafarers and port employees have been killed and others injured.
Ukraine established the safe corridor in August 2023 after a year-long effort set up by the United Nations and administered by Turkey collapsed. In the past three years, Ukraine shipped more than 197 million tonnes of cargo, according to the Ukrainian Seaport Authority. It said this included 117 million tonnes of grain. So far in 2026, more than 42 million tonnes of cargo have been handled at Ukraine’s seaports, including nearly 24 million tonnes of agricultural products. Volumes were reported to be running 20 percent ahead of last year.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has warned that Russia could further escalate the attacks. He repeated the earlier assertions by Russian President Vladimir Putin that Russia could cut off Ukraine from the sea.
Further adding to Ukraine’s challenges, Maersk announced on Wednesday that it was rerouting its feeder service to Romania from the fishing port at Chornomorsk. The move came after a Russian attack on the port of Chornomorsk.
S&P Global is reporting today that Ukrainian ag traders are looking to reroute their volumes to the western border and likely back onto the Danube. Earlier in the war, Ukraine had established shipping corridors from its ports on the Danube and inland to Constanta, Romania. S&P, however, points out that with the current low water levels and droughts in Europe, shipping on the Danube is more challenging. In addition, it notes the higher costs that would have to be borne by the Ukrainian farmers.
Russia is also feeling the pressure on shipping after weeks of attacks by Ukraine, primarily in the Sea of Azov. Reports had indicated that Russia had already restricted shipping on the Sea of Azov and in the Kerch Strait. Shippers reportedly had been redirecting cargo to Novorossiysk, but Reuters is reporting Russia has verbally communicated a new nighttime restriction on shipping from that port as well. Novorossiysk handles grain, metals, and containers, in addition to the large oil and energy terminals.
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Before the war, Ukraine is reported to have accounted for around six percent of global wheat exports and more than 10 percent of corn exports. However, its capacity has declined by at least a third during the war. It is especially hard on less developed and third world countries, which had depended on Ukraine for basic food supplies.
