A Greek bulker has become the biggest vessel to call at a Ukrainian port since the Russian invasion two years ago.
The Ministry for Communities, Territories & Infrastructure Development said the 203,100-dwt newcastlemax Captain Leonidas (built 2005) had left the port of Pivdennyi.
The 300-metre ship is owned by Greek owner Adam Polemis’ New Shipping.
The destination is showing as Port Said in Egypt, according to AIS data.
The ministry said the Panama-flag bulker exported 195,700 tonnes of cargo.
The Administration of Sea Ports added that it is carrying Ukrainian metallurgical products.
About 135 vessels are waiting to approach terminals in Odessa to export a further 4m tonnes of cargo, it added.
Russian chokehold
In March, TradeWinds reported that Ukraine’s grain corridor had attracted more ship traffic in its first seven months than the United Nations-protected Black Sea Grain Initiative did throughout its entire year of operation before Russia pulled the plug.
According to UN and TradeWinds data as of 5 March, 991 outbound vessel trips, carrying 28.9m tonnes of cargo — mostly foodstuffs — had left the three big Ukrainian ports of Odesa, Chornomorsk and Yuzhny/Pivdennyi.
The total volume has now overtaken the Black Sea corridor’s 1,004 trips and 32.9m tonnes of cargo.
Russia had a chokehold on the maritime humanitarian grain corridor by curbing the number of UN inspections in Istanbul, where inbound and outbound ships had to be cleared.
Under its own corridor, however, Ukraine has no such limits. Traffic volume depends largely on the weather and the cargoes available.
