Accumulation Of Ships For Grain Export Near Danube Delta Will Be Eliminated Within Week

The Ministry of Infrastructure predicts that within a week the accumulation of ships for the export of grain near the Danube Delta will be eliminated.

This is stated in the message of the Ministry of Infrastructure, Ukrainian News Agency reports.

"As of 8 p.m., July 12, sixteen merchant ships that will transport Ukrainian agricultural products to foreign markets have already passed through the canal of the Bystre estuary of the ship passage of the Danube River - Black Sea and will expect loading with Ukrainian grain. More than 90 ships are waiting for their turn at the Sulina Branch raid to enter the Ukrainian ports. In total, there are 135 ships on the raid of the Romanian Sulina Branch," it says.

According to the report, the passage through the Bystre estuary to the Ukrainian Danube ports (Izmail, Reni and Ust-Dunaisk) became possible two days ago, thanks to the liberation of the Zmiinyi Island in the Black Sea from Russian troops.

"Over the past 4 days, 16 ships have already passed through the Bystre estuary. We plan to maintain such a pace. The resumption of navigation through the canal is an important step that will also unload the Sulina Branch raid and speed up grain exports. Unfortunately, its capacity and organization of work on this canal make it possible to receive only 4 vessels, if necessary, at least 8 vessels per day. In parallel, we are negotiating with Romanian colleagues and representatives of the European Commission on increasing the number of passages through the Sulina Branch. Under these conditions and the presence of a path through the Bystre estuary, we expect that during the week the accumulation of ships on the raid will be eliminated and we will be able to increase the monthly export of grain by 500,000 tons," the Deputy Minister of Infrastructure Yurii Vaskov is quoted in the message.

At the request of the Ministry of Infrastructure, the Naval Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine joined the organization of transportation by civilian ships.

"Before the opening of the canal of the Bystre estuary, ships, which carried out cargo transportation in the Ukrainian Danube ports, were forced to use the only transport route - the Sulina Branch, located in Romania. Its limited capacity allowed the Danube ports to receive only 4 vessels per day, which is not enough for the needs of Ukrainian export. The UN, which plays an important role in the negotiations on the release of Ukrainian seaports, has already welcomed the decision to open traffic at the Bystre estuary and supports the increase in cargo transportation through the Sulina Branch," the statement said.

It is indicated that today, due to the blockade of seaports, which accounted for approximately 80% of Ukraine's agricultural exports before the full-scale invasion, food is exported exclusively through the Danube ports, railway and road checkpoints on the western borders.

"Their capacity is not yet enough to fully replace seaports. In particular, in June, the existing logistics routes managed to export approximately 2.5 million tons of products, while the monthly need for the export of such products is 8 million tons," the message says.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, on July 11, after the liberation of the Zmiinyi Island, the first 8 foreign ships entered the ports of Ukraine through the Bystre estuary to load grain.