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<\/div>\nThe number of ships looking to pick up grain cargoes from the Black Sea area has fallen 35% this week versus the previous week with growing uncertainty over whether commercial traffic could be hit as Russia continues to pound food facilities in Ukraine.<\/p>\n
Moscow\u2019s direct attacks on Ukraine\u2019s grain for four days running followed a vow by Kyiv to defy Russia\u2019s naval blockade on its export ports following Moscow\u2019s withdrawal earlier this week from a UN-brokered safe sea corridor agreement.<\/p>\n
Russia said it would deem all ships heading for Ukrainian waters to be potentially carrying weapons from Thursday, in what Washington called a signal it might attack civilian shipping. Kyiv later responded by issuing a similar warning about ships headed to Russia.<\/p>\n
Black Sea Threats Escalate as Ukraine Warns on Russian Ships<\/a> \u201cWe believe the aggressive rhetoric is likely to lead to a reduction in owners willing to traffic in the region and creates further complexity with respect to insurance availability,\u201d Jefferies analyst Omar Nokta said in a shipping note on Friday.<\/p>\n The number of dry bulk vessels ranging from the smaller handysize to supramax sized ships that were positioning themselves to transport grains from the Black Sea region dropped 35% this week versus the previous week, according to analysis from maritime and commodities data platform Shipfix.<\/p>\n The data showed that only 20 vessels were marketed for forward business for the rest of July into early August, compared with 32 vessels sought the previous week.<\/p>\n Many insurers have now suspended providing cover for shipments from Ukraine apart from the smaller ports along the Danube, insurance industry sources said on Friday.<\/p>\n \u201cThe big question is the safety of Danube ports going forward,\u201d one source said.<\/p>\n There were dozens of ships waiting to pass through the Danube channel on Friday including vessels bound for Romania or leaving from there, according to data from analytics company MarineTraffic.<\/p>\n Additional war risk insurance premiums, which are charged when entering the Black Sea area, need to be renewed every seven days.<\/p>\n They already cost thousands of dollars and are expected to go up, given also the risk of floating mines.<\/p>\n War risk cover for Russia\u2019s Black Sea ports was still available on Friday with little change in rates for now, insurance sources said.<\/p>\n Russia\u2019s defense ministry on Friday said its Black Sea fleet had practiced firing rockets at \u201cfloating targets\u201d and apprehending ships. Moscow\u2019s ambassador to Washington denied any plan to attack ships.<\/p>\n (Reporting by Jonathan Saul; editing by Sharon Singleton)<\/p>\n Related:<\/strong><\/p>\n Topics<\/span> Russia<\/a> Ukraine<\/a> <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Was this article valuable?<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/strong>Russia Issues Warning to Any Ships Traveling to Ukraine\u2019s Black Sea Ports<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n