Fulmar S first vessel set to arrive in Ukraine since war Saturday

5 Aug 2022 | Sharon Levrez

The first vessel to arrive in Ukraine ports since the Russian invasion began now looks set to be the Fulmar S, rather than the Osprey S as originally thought, according to market sources.

The Fulmar S, which is sailing under the flag of Barbados, passed inspections in Turkey earlier Friday and has an estimated time of arrival in Chornomorsk of 2000 Saturday, according to tracking service Marine Traffic.

A second vessel, the Osprey S, which is sailing under the Liberian flag, had originally been scheduled to arrive in Chornomorsk in the early hours of Friday.

However, it is now scheduled to arrive at midday on Sunday, having spent the last two days off the coast of Turkey in the Marmara Sea.

In the meantime, three vessels that left Ukraine earlier Friday have all passed Snake Island and have entered into safe waters, according to Marine Traffic.

The Navi Star, the Rojen and the Polarnet, which are carrying some 57,000 mt of Ukrainian corn in total, formed a convoy and left deep-sea ports of Odesa and Chornomorsk accompanied by tugs Friday morning.

The Navi Star, bound for Istanbul, Turkey, is due to arrive Saturday morning, while the Polarnet, is estimated to arrive in Derince, in the early hours of Sunday morning.

The Rojen is bound for Teesside in Great Britain, where it is due to arrive on August 19, according to Marine Traffic.

A fourth vessel, the Razoni, successfully passed inspections in Turkey earlier this week and is now on its way to its final destination of Tripoli in Lebanon, where it is due to arrive Sunday morning.

Ukraine’s minister for infrastructure, Oleksandr Kubrakov, said Friday that the goal was to ensure the export of 3 million mt of agricultural products or more every month from the deep-sea ports of Odesa, Chornomorsk, and Pivdenniy.

It is estimated that Ukraine has stocks of around 16 million mt of wheat and corn that it could not export after the Russian military aggression blocked deep-sea ports in the Black Sea.