The head of the International Maritime Organization says he is busy working on finding a way out for ships stuck in Ukraine “as soon as possible”.
“I hope a positive outcome will come … we are putting in a special effort,” IMO secretary general Kitack Lim told the Capital Link conference in Athens.
More than 60 vessels are stranded in various Ukrainian ports, Lim said — stuck there since Russia invaded in February last year.
These vessels were not lucky enough to get stuck in Odesa, Chernomorsk and Yuzhny; ships there eventually managed to get out after the United Nations included these three ports in a safe corridor used to resume Ukrainian grain exports.
The rest have been in limbo. Ships stuck in Kherson, for instance, have been subjected to shelling in recent days, as TradeWinds reported.
According to Turk Deniz Medya, one ship under attack may have been the 17,300-dwt Sea Lord (built 1986). This came after a missile attack on the Turkish-owned 3,900-dwt Tuzla (built 1980) inflicted severe damage on the vessel without causing human loss.
In Mykolaiv, another port, AIS data shows at least 20 ships of more than 10,000 dwt each — mostly bulkers and tankers that trade internationally.
Both ports sit on the frontline of the battle between Ukrainian and Russian forces, which has severely restricted access and prevented ships from leaving.
Crews have been mostly evacuated months ago.
But the hulls still stranded there are set to be the centre of war risk insurance payouts amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars on the anniversary of Russia’s invasion.
The matter has raised global attention and Lim made his statements to a top-notch shipping crowd.
Present at the speech was the assembled institutional leadership of the industry, including Bimco president Sabrina Chao, International Chamber of Shipping chairman Emanuele Grimaldi, Intercargo chairman Dimitris Fafalios and Intertanko head Paolo d’Amico.
Greece, the world’s biggest shipping nation, was present through the Union of Greek Shipowners president Melina Travlos and shipping minister Ioannis Plakiotakis.
