Romania will authorize the access of 30 ships from Ukrainian ports
The Romanian authorities have declared that in two days they will allow the passage of almost 30 ships waiting to arrive in Romania from the Ukrainian ports on the Danube. Even though the Danube and its estuaries are congested with shipping trying to get to and from Ukrainian ports, trade continues despite Russian attacks, Reuters and Digi24 report.
The traffic on the Danube is the last route through which Ukraine can export its grain by water, after Russia imposed a de facto blockade on Ukrainian ports on the Black Sea last month. Before Russia pulled out of the Black Sea Corridor deal, Danube ports were responsible for about a quarter of Ukraine's grain exports. The grains are loaded onto barges which later pass through the territorial waters of Romania to the Port of Constanța.
The data shows that both the Danube and the river's mouths are congested with ships trying to get to and from Ukrainian ports. "We are trying to manage these congestions as best we can to decongest navigation on the Danube," said the director of the Lower Danube River Administration (AFDJ) Galaţi, Florin Uzumtoma.
Romania authorized almost 500 ships per month in May and June
"In two days we will authorize about 30 ships, at least 12, if not 14, today and the rest tomorrow," Uzumtoma said. According to him, in May and June, the Lower Danube River Administration authorized a record number of ships that came from the inland ports of Ukraine, over 477 ships per month.
"May and June were peak months and we expect that in August we will have a peak month as well, despite everything that happened", Florin Uzumtoma said.
In late July, the director general of the Danube Commission, an intergovernmental organization that manages navigation on the Danube, told Reuters that Ukraine's inland ports may need to be protected from airstrikes to restore confidence and to ensure continued exports of cereals.
