Foreign Merchant Ships Calling at Russian Ports Before Proceeding to the Ukrainian Ones
The Monitoring Group of the Black Sea Institute of Strategic Studies
and BlackSeaNews
Based on its own monitoring, the Monitoring Group of the Black Sea Institute of Strategic Studies and BlackSeaNews, reports below on the foreign vessels’ visiting Ukrainian Black Sea and Danube ports prior port call record.
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As part of the daily monitoring of the Black Sea maritime traffic, the Monitoring Group's noted the port history of the PROFESSOR B (Container Ship, IMO: 8401523).
At that time, the vessel was anchored in Romanian territorial waters near Danube’s Sulina mouth, waiting to enter the Ukrainian port of Reni.
This vessel was familiar to us, as it had been on the «grain fleet» list of vessels involved in the export of Ukrainian grain from the ports of Odesa region, calling at Chornomorsk in October 2022 and Odesa in December 2022.
However, our attention was drawn to a PROFESSOR B’s completely different voyage, namely:
Between March 2-21, 2021, PROFESSOR B was unloading at the he Kerch Strait raid anchorage # 471 of Russia’s port Kavkaz that also goes by the name «Tamansky Raid Transshipment Complex of the Port Kavkaz.»
After unloading in the Russian port Kavkaz on March 21, 2023, PROFESSOR B set sail directly to... Ukraine’s Izmail Commercial Sea Port on the Danube River, arriving there unhindered on April 5, 2023 (see Maps 1 & 2).
Below is an enlarged map showing PROFESSOR B’s route along the Danube from the Sulina mouth to the port of Izmail.
Initially, a direct voyage from a Russian port to a Ukrainian one during the war struck us as a coincidence that, however, prompted us to start checking for similar voyages by other vessels.
As a result, we've easily identified a fairly significant number of vessels that arrived at Ukrainian ports having previously called at the Russian ports (see Table 1).
Conclusions:
1. Visits to Ukrainian ports by foreign merchant ships that had previously called at Russia’s Black Sea ports, while aren’t a widespread practice, are nevertheless, rather common, numbering dozens of vessels.
2. For security reasons, including counteracting possible sabotage, special decisions should be made to prevent maritime businesses from chartering vessels that operate to Russian ports for the transportation of goods to/from Ukrainian ports or simply ban such vessels from entering Ukrainian ports, much like the recent 11th EU sanctions package prohibits vessels from any country that in violation of the EU sanctions transported Russian oil from entering the ports of the EU member states.
Table 1. Vessels that Called at the Russian Ports Prior to their Arrival at the Ukrainian Ports
|
Name |
ІМО |
DWT |
Flag |
Port of departure in RF |
Actual Time of Departure |
Port of destination in Ukraine |
Actual Time of Arrival |
Shipowner |
|
PROFESSOR B Container Ship |
8401523 |
14120 |
Comoros |
RU KAVKAZ ANCH |
21.03.2023 |
UA IZM IZMAIL |
05.04.2023 |
Registered owner PROFESSOR SHIPPING CO SA 2, Metamorfoseos Street, Alimos, 174 55 Athens, Greece. |
|
MAGPIE S General Cargo |
9188922 |
10335 |
Liberia |
RU NVS |
04.04.2023 |
UA IZM IZMAIL |
05.05.2023 |
Ship manager/Commercial manager ARMADOR GEMI ISLETMECILIGI Kat 3, 3/1 Sokak 2, Sumer Mah, Zeytinburnu, 34025 Istanbul, Turkey. |
|
BESIKTAS ICELAND |
9395367 |
7700 |
Malta |
RU NVS |
25.04.2023 |
UA IZM IZMAIL |
10.05.2023 |
Ship manager/Commercial manager BESIKTAS LIKID TASIMACILIK Kat 15, Blok A, Piyale Pasa Bulvari Memorial Centre, Okmeydani, Sisli, 34385 Istanbul, Turkey. |
|
ENVAR |
9098696 |
5304 |
Panama |
RU NVS |
06.03.2023 |
UA IZM IZMAIL |
08.05.2023 |
Ship manager/Commercial manager LIBERTY SHIPPING INC 7, Kat 1, Kasimpati Sokak, Hurriyet Caddesi, Orhangazi Mah, Pendik, Istanbul, Turkey. |
|
ALIYE HANIM General Cargo |
9414723 |
3337 |
Turkey |
RU NVS |
14.12.2022 |
UA IZM IZMAIL |
24.05.2023 |
Ship manager/Commercial manager TEMEL DENIZCILIK TIC LTD STIKemankes Caddesi 17B, K.karamustafapasa M, Beyoglu, 34425 Istanbul, Turkey. |
|
MUHAMMET GUMUSTAS 6 General Cargo |
8509832 |
3732 |
Turkey |
RU NVS |
22.06.2022 |
UA IZM IZMAIL |
11.05.2023 |
Ship manager/Commercial manager GUMUSTAS DENIZCILIK NAKLIYAT Kat 5, Efe Han, Bahceler Sokak 20, Fulya Mah, Sisli, 34400 Istanbul, Turkey. |
|
DOGANBEY General Cargo |
9111761 |
3085 |
Vanuatu |
RU KAVKAZ SOUTH ANCH |
09.08.2022 |
UA IZM IZMAIL |
13.05.2023 |
Ship manager/Commercial manager MCM SHIPPING SA Akar Sokak 12/C/1, Postane Mah, Tuzla, 34940 Istanbul, Turkey. |
|
INANDI |
8332100 |
3465 |
Panama |
RU NVS |
16.07.2022 |
UA IZM IZMAIL |
03.05.2023 |
Ship manager/Commercial manager IND SHIPPING CO Kemankes Caddesi 1, K.karamustafapasa M, Beyoglu, 34425 Istanbul, Turkey. |
|
MOHAMAD Y General Cargo |
8107000 |
11990 |
St. Kitts and Nevis |
RU NVS |
28.10.2022 |
UA IZM IZMAIL |
22.05.2023 |
Ship manager/Commercial manager VRS MARITIME SERVICES LTD 5-7, Agiou Nikolaou Street, 185 37 Piraeus, Greece. |
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More on the topic
- 17.10.2023 The operations of the Ukrainian temporary maritime export corridor from the ports of Greater Odesa (the database as of 16/10/2023)
- 08.04.2022 Blocked ships in Ukrainian ports during the war: The port of Mariupol
- 28.03.2022 Blocked ships in Ukrainian ports during the war: The Berdiansk port
- 15.03.2021 Illegal Visits to Crimean Ports by Foreign Merchant Ships (Except Russian Ones) in 2020
- 22.10.2019 Blocking the Ukrainian Azov Sea Ports: a Significant Increase Under the Storm Guise
- 29.08.2018 Russian Federation Blockade of the Mariupol and Berdyansk Ports: trends and statistics
- 12.07.2018 Database of Vessels en Route from Mariupol to Berdyansk Detained by the RF Coast Guard of the Border Service of the FSB in the Azov Sea