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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).

PROFESSOR B. Map 1

Below is an enlarged map showing PROFESSOR B’s route along the Danube from the Sulina mouth to the port of Izmail.

PROFESSOR B. Map 2

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
Vessel Type

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.
Ship manager/Commercial manager CEDAR MARINE SERVICES SAL Apartment 3/A, 3rd Floor, Sofi Plaza, Achier el-Daya Street, Tripoli, Lebanon.

MAGPIE S General Cargo

9188922

10335

Liberia

RU NVS
NOVOROSSIYSK

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.
Registered owner MAGPIE SHIPPING & TRADING LTDCare of Armador Gemi Isletmeciligi Ticaret Ltd Sti (Armador Shipping), Kat 3, 3/1 Sokak 2, Sumer Mah, Zeytinburnu, 34025 Istanbul, Turkey.

BESIKTAS ICELAND
Tanker

9395367

7700

Malta

RU NVS
NOVOROSSIYSK

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.
Registered owner KAS TANKER CO LTD Care of Besiktas Likid Tasimacilik Denizcilik Ticaret AS, Kat 15, Blok A, Piyale Pasa Bulvari Memorial Centre, Okmeydani, Sisli, 34385 Istanbul, Turkey.

ENVAR
General Cargo

9098696

5304

Panama

RU NVS
NOVOROSSIYSK

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.
Registered owner MILKY WAY SHIPPING CORP Care of Liberty Shipping Inc , 7, Kat 1, Kasimpati Sokak, Hurriyet Caddesi, Orhangazi Mah, Pendik, Istanbul, Turkey.

ALIYE HANIM General Cargo

9414723

3337

Turkey

RU NVS
NOVOROSSIYSK

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.
Registered owner TEMEL DENIZCILIK TIC LTD STIKemankes Caddesi 17B, K.karamustafapasa M, Beyoglu, 34425 Istanbul, Turkey.

MUHAMMET GUMUSTAS 6 General Cargo

8509832

3732

Turkey

RU NVS
NOVOROSSIYSK

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.
Registered ownerGUMUSTAS 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.
Registered owner MCM SHIPPING SA Akar Sokak 12/C/1, Postane Mah, Tuzla, 34940 Istanbul, Turkey.

INANDI
General Cargo

8332100

3465

Panama

RU NVS
NOVOROSSIYSK

16.07.2022
23.07.2022

UA IZM IZMAIL

03.05.2023

Ship manager/Commercial manager IND SHIPPING CO Kemankes Caddesi 1, K.karamustafapasa M, Beyoglu, 34425 Istanbul, Turkey.
Registered owner 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
NOVOROSSIYSK

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.
Registered ownerHAROUN MARITIME CO Care of VRS Maritime Services Ltd , 5-7, Agiou Nikolaou Street, 185 37 Piraeus, Greece

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This article has been prepared with the support of the European Union in Ukraine. The content of the article is the sole responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily reflect the position of the EU