American Chamber of Commerce calls on international partners to strengthen Ukraine's maritime defense

The business community, united by the American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine (the Chamber), calls on international partners to immediately strengthen air and sea defense over Ukraine, in particular the Odesa Region and the critical port infrastructure of the Black Sea.

This is said in the message of the association, the Ukrainian News agency reports.

It is noted that russia continues to destroy and humiliate American business in Ukraine.

Russia's recent missile and drone attacks on Ukraine and the Odesa Region have resulted in injuries and deaths of port workers and ship crews; damaged ports, energy facilities, grain storage facilities and commercial vessels; reduced the operation of terminals by up to 50%, some of them are shut down, most are running on generators; caused large-scale power outages and additional costs for the use of generators; damaged power plants and power grids that require urgent repairs; limited rail connections to ports and caused commercial vessels to be idle and demurrage charges.

It is noted that this situation carries a direct risk of disrupting global food and commodity supply chains, which will have far-reaching consequences for international markets and food security, including rising food prices and worsening hunger in vulnerable countries.

Thus, it is difficult to estimate the volume of losses of grain and oilseed exporters in real time, but they are estimated at hundreds of millions of dollars per month.

Thus, without a significant strengthening of air and sea defense systems, both Ukrainian and international businesses will face critical operational challenges, including the inability to charter ships and obtain insurance coverage for vessels, crews and cargo.

As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, the Odesa port works on generators for fifth day due to the consequences of the russian strike.

Despite the efforts of power engineers, as of December 18, it has not yet been possible to fully restore power to the seaports.