Another ship traveling from Odessa outside of grain corridor - Ukrainian ministry

MOSCOW. Aug 28 (Interfax) - Another ship has departed from the Odessa port through a temporary corridor, the Ukrainian Ministry for Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development said.

"The Primus bulker of a Singapore operator, flying the flag of Liberia, has left the Odessa port and is moving through a temporary corridor opened for civilian vessels to and from the Ukrainian Black Sea ports," Ukrainian media quoted the ministry as saying on a social network on Sunday.

The ship loaded with medal products for Africa had been stranded at the port since February 20, 2022, the media said.

The corridor is primarily used for evacuation of the ships blocked at the Ukrainian ports of Chernomorsk, Odessa and Yuzhny since the beginning of the crisis. The Joseph Schulte container ship was the first one to use the passage on August 16, 2023.

According to the MarineTraffic website, the Primus bulker has reached the Romanian territorial waters opposite to the Sulina branch of the Danube.

As reported, the Primus departed from the Odessa port on Saturday morning. It arrived in Odessa from the Greek port of Perama on February 20, 2022, under the name of the Polarstar and headed for the Bulgarian port of Varna early on Sunday morning.

According to the Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority, six ships with 262,000 tonnes of cargo onboard remained at the Greater Odessa ports as of August 23.

The Primus bulker with a deadweight of 32,600 tonnes and a 19,900 gross tonnage changed the owner on July 12, 2023, while being stranded in Odessa, the BlackSeaNews editor-in-chief and head of the Monitoring Group on Sanctions and Freedom of Navigation, said. The Greek company Erma Marine SA was replaced by Nova Polar from Singapore. Also, the Greek operator Seastar Chartering was replaced by Singapore-based Blumenthal Asia. MarineTraffic estimated the ship cost at around $9.1 million.