Sea blockade partially ended: freighter Razoni leaves the port of Odessa for Lebanon. It is the first cargo ship in months to leave Ukraine loaded with grain.

According to media reports, the Turkish Ministry of Defense and the AIS data (navigation system in shipping), the 186-meter-long bulk carrier “Razoni” left the Ukrainian port on August 1, 2022, the first of numerous cargo ships that have been in the port of Odessa for weeks. Loaded with corn, the Razoni will now leave the Black Sea. The destination is the port of Tripoli in Lebanon.

The Razoli (IMO 9086526) is a 187 meter long and 25 meter wide bulk carrier, also known as bulker. This type of ship is used to transport loose bulk goods such as coal, ore, bauxite or grain from the Ukraine, which is urgently needed on the world market.

Export of grain from Ukraine has started

With today’s departure of the Razoni, the first cargo ship loaded with thousands of tons of grain (or in this case maize, which is also a major grain) leaves Ukraine. In total, more than 25 million tons of grain are stored in the Ukrainian ports, including a lot of wheat, barley and corn. However, it remains to be seen whether the agreement on the export of Ukrainian grain, which was concluded between Russia and Ukraine with the mediation of Turkey and the UN, will actually begin and will also lead to a significant export of grain.

However, more cargo ships would stand by in the port of Odessa, so more ships loaded with grain could leave Ukraine.

Port of Odessa: Razoni and other cargo ships

With the Razoni, a cargo ship flying the flag of Sierra Leone, grain exports by ship from Odessa have now begun. The 187 meter long bulk carrier can transport almost 30,000 tons of grain. Based on the 25 million tons in space, more than 800 cargo ships of the same type as the Razoni would be necessary to ship the grain to the world market.

There are currently numerous other freighters and bulker in the port of Odessa and in other nearby Ukrainian ports in the Black Sea (for example Chonomorsk, Oleksandrivka and Biliari), but of course there are far from several hundred ships.

Among others, the following cargo ships are currently in the port of Odessa:

  • Comet (IMO 9146106, bulk carrier, 113 meters long and 20 meters wide)
  • Joseph Schulte (IMO 9605243, container ship, 300 meters long and 48 meters wide)
  • Sea Luck (IMO 9194464, bulk carrier, 134 meters long and 21 meters wide)
  • Navi Star (IMO 9590979, bulk carrier, 180 meters long and 30 meters wide)
  • Captan Cevdet (IMO 9005895, cargo ship, 81 meters long and 11 meters wide)
  • Polarstar (IMO 9310757, bulk carrier, 177 meters long and 28 meters wide)
  • Puma (IMO 9748265, cargo ship, 180 meters long and 30 meters wide)
  • Riva Wind (IMO 9301196, bulk carrier, 190 meters long and 33 meters wide)

Videos from Odessa

Hi I am Chris from Kiel in Germany.