The willingness of Ukraine, Turkey and the UN to continue
shipping grain via the Black Sea Corridor despite Russia pulling out of the
agreement on Saturday October 29th could be undone by the
unwillingness of insurers to provide cover for the vessels making the trips.
Russia stated at the weekend that any vessels that
continued to transport grain from Odesa, Chornomorsk or Yuzhne to Istanbul did
so “at their own risk”.
Insurer Ascot said on Monday that it was pausing writing
cover for new shipments using the corridor until it could better understand the
situation.
“From today (Monday October 31st) we are pausing
on quoting new shipments until we better understand the situation,” Ascot head
of cargo Chris McGill told Reuters, adding that “insurance that has
already been issued still stands.”
Twelve ships on Monday had left Ukrainian ports carrying
grain despite Russia pulling out of the deal brokered by the UN and Turkey in
July. However, Russia did not say that any blockade would be reimposed, which
had been a major fear.
Amir Abdullah, the UN official who coordinates the
programme, tweeted that “civilian cargo ships can never be a military
target or held hostage. The food must flow”. The 12 ships that set sail
were carrying 354,500 tonnes of grain, far more than typically leaves in a
single day, suggesting a backlog was being cleared after exports were interrupted
on Sunday.
Russia said it was forced to pull out of the shipping
deal after Ukraine attacked Russian navy ships in a Crimean port on Saturday.
Ukraine has neither confirmed nor denied it was responsible
for those blasts, but it has maintained that Russia’s navy was a legitimate
military target.
The ships that sailed on Monday included one hired by the
UN World Food Programme to bring 40,000 tonnes of grain to Africa.
