Half of ships blocked in Ukrainian deepwater ports since February 24 left

Fifty of the 100 vessels that were blocked since the start of russia's full-scale invasion remained in Ukrainian deepwater ports as of 26 September, the head of the Institute for Strategic Black Sea Studies Andriy Klymenko wrote on Facebook.

"29 vessels are in the ports of Mykolaiv region, 14 — in Kherson, 5 — in Mariupol. Two vessels out of 41 that were blocked since February 24 stay in the ports of Odesa region for various reasons," the message reads.

Of the 50 vessels, 15 are owned by EU operators (eight from Greece, three from Malta, and one each from Bulgaria, Germany, Estonia and Denmark), 14 by Turkish operators and eight by Ukrainian.

Among those blocked are vessels from Norway and China, the United Kingdom, Montenegro, Bangladesh, the Marshall Islands, Lebanon, Egypt, and Singapore.

The bulk carrier EMMAKRIS III, which was detained in July 2022 at the request of the Prosecutor General's Office as part of an investigation into its russian owner, remains in the port of Chornomorsk.

According to the Navigational Order of the Ukrainian Navy No. 6, temporary routes for civilian vessels to/from the Black Sea ports of Ukraine came into effect on August 8, 2023. Since then, seven vessels have sailed through the temporary corridor. On August 16, the container ship JOSEPH SCHULTE was the first to leave.