The first vessel that will pass through the temporary corridor left the port of Odesa

The container ship “JOSEPH SCHULTE” left the port of Odesa and is moving along the temporary corridor established for civilian vessels to/from the Black Sea seaports of Ukraine.

“The corridor will primarily be used to evacuate ships that were in the Ukrainian ports of Chornomorsk, Odesa and Pivdenny at the time of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation,” said Minister of Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development Oleksandr Kubrakov.

According to the navigation order of the Navy of the Armed Forces of Ukraine No. 6, the temporary routes of traffic of civilian vessels to/from the Black Sea seaports of Ukraine began to operate on August 8, 2023.

“Ukraine proposed this route in its appeal to the International Maritime Organization (IMO). The IMO Council recognizes Ukraine’s international right to free commercial shipping and calls on Russia to stop any threats and adhere to international conventions,” the minister said.

The last time the ship left the Odesa port was on July 16 as part of the Grain Agreement. After the collapse of the Grain Agreement, the Russian Federation resorted to systematic air attacks on the port infrastructure to stop Ukrainian agricultural exports, Kubrakov summarized.

The container ship “Joseph Schulte” sails under the flag of Hong Kong and was built in 2013. The vessel has a deadweight of 111,000 tons, a length of 300 meters and a width of almost 50 meters. The shipowner, according to the MarineTraffic portal, is Dover Park Shipping.

We previously reported that the container ship “Joseph Schulte” was in the port of Odesa from the beginning of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation into Ukraine.