International commerce - Hapag-Lloyd resumes sea routes to Ukraine.
Hapag-Lloyd, the German shipping company situated in Hamburg, has now started transporting cargo through the Ukrainian seaport once again. They confirmed this news on a Thursday that they have been providing a smaller container ship to transport agricultural items like sunflower oil and grain with the help of a third party since the previous week. This vessel, containing a capacity of 1,100 standard containers (TEU), will ply a route between the Romanian port of Constanta and the Ukrainian seaport of Tschornomorsk for five days a week.
A Hapag-Lloyd spokesperson clarified that they've never ceased their service, but now they're sailing in the region again. Ever since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, many seaports have faced partial to complete inaccessibility. At first, Russian president Vladimir Putin obstructed the usage of seaports for several months. Following this, only the export of agricultural goods was permitted through a deal facilitated by the United Nations and Turkey. However, this arrangement was permitted to lapse in the summer of 2023. On the other hand, the export trade has been operating through land routes.
Ukraine announced a safe corridor for trade vessels since last August. The Ukrainian military has been able to repel Russian warships, which have periodically fired rockets and drones against the port facilities since then, through the use of sea drones and anti-ship missiles. Ukraine boasts of having exported around 15 million tons of goods through the Black Sea in the closing months of the last year. A total of 469 ships have docked at the three Black Sea ports of Odessa, Tschornomorsk, and Piwdennyj.
Despite these efforts, Ukraine's export volume still lags far behind their pre-invasion levels. In the year 2021, approximately 100 million tons of goods were exported through their sea ports. However, the Azov Sea ports of Mariupol and Berdjansk currently face occupation by Russian troops.
