Ukraine wants ships to keep exporting its grain despite Russian attacks

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Black Sea dangerous for shipping. Even the US said ships are at risk of being targeted. There is still interest from ship owners in carrying Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea — if they can mitigate the risk, according to a major shipping group. And that's a big if. Despite the warnings and port attacks, which have levelled grain infrastructure, “shipping has always been very, very resilient in the face of these sorts of risks,” said John Stawpert, senior manager of environment and trade for the International Chamber of Shipping, which represents 80 per cent of the world's commercial fleet. This week's strikes came after Russia pulled out of a wartime accord that the UN and Turkey brokered last year to provide safeguards for shipping companies in a bid to end a global food crisis. Ukraine — which, along with Russia, is a major supplier of wheat, barley and vegetable oil to developing nations — shipped 32.9 million metric tons of grain to the world and supplied 80 per cent of the World Food Program's wheat for humanitarian aid so far this year.

Russia warns against any ships traveling to Ukraine from Thursday

Following the grain deal's collapse, Ukraine sent a letter to the UN International Maritime Organisation establishing its own temporary shipping corridor, saying it would “provide guarantees of compensation for damage.” But Russia warned this week that ships traversing parts of the Black Sea would assume to be carrying weapons to Ukraine. In a seeming tit-for-tat move, Ukraine said vessels heading to Russian Black Sea ports would be considered “carrying military cargo with all the associated risks.” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Vershinin said Friday that the navy will check vessels