UNDER Ukraine’s supervision seaborne trade out of the country’s operational Black Sea ports stabilised in 2024, with more than 200 cargo-carrying vessels arriving each month, according to Lloyd’s List Intelligence data.

Last year was the first full year of the so-called “temporary” maritime corridor, which was launched by Ukrainian authorities following the collapse of the UN-brokered Black Sea Initiative, which ran from August 2022 to July 2023.

The route is independently managed by Ukraine and, unlike the grain deal, it allows for unrestricted export and import without limitations on cargo.

A total of 2,705 cargo-carrying vessels arrived to either Chornomorsk, Yuzhnyi or Odesa throughout 2024, the equivalent of 79.9m dwt.

The figures were 759 vessels and 32.4m dwt, and 1,028 vessels and 38.2m dwt in 2023 and 2022, respectively.

A spate of Russian strikes on Ukraine’s Odesa ports in October, which resulted in at least four civilian ships being damaged, has not deterred the shipping community from Black Sea calls.

Some 226 ships were tracked by Lloyd’s List calling to the Odesa ports in November, with another 216 arriving in December.

While demand for Ukraine’s Black Sea ports has been steady throughout the year, the country’s smaller Danube river ports have seen traffic volumes plummet to levels not seen since Russia first invaded.

Danube activity started to slow while the Black Sea ports were gaining traction.

In the last quarter of 2024 just 461 port calls were recorded, about 1.8m dwt in tonnage terms, down from 1,086 (4.2m dwt) the previous year.

This is partially because of vessels rerouting in favour of the larger Odesa ports.

Eurogal Surveys, an Odesa-based Lloyd’s agent, said part of the weaker demand for Danube trade was because of high costs, issues with weather and temperature, which delays sailing, lower harvest levels and low freight rates.

The Danube river ports were nearly non-operational at the start of the war in February 2022 but efforts to modernise the infrastructure, improve logistics and boost turnover were prioritised when they were the only option for seaborne trade until the grain deal was agreed.

Despite Ukraine’s successes in facilitating seaborne trade within a conflict zone, a significant amount of capacity has been lost from ports that are closed or are now under Russian control.

According to Lloyd’s List Intelligence data the number of cargo-carrying arrivals from foreign markets in 2021 was 6,196, equal to approximately 170.2m dwt.

These figures were 5,327 and 90m dwt in 2024.

While US President Donald Trump’s announcement that his government is going to immediately start talks with Russian leader Vladimir Putin to end the war Ukraine does not mean a viable peace deal is imminent, it does call into question the future of Ukraine’s maritime trade.

Of the concerns that must be addressed are the fate of ports like Berdiansk and Mariupol which are now occupied by Russian forces, as well as how long it will take to reopen Ukrainian ports that have not only been shuttered for years but have sustained significant damage in the process.