A new marine insurance facility for Ukrainian grain exports using the country’s sea corridor has been set up in cooperation with the Ukrainian authorities, insurance broker Miller said on Tuesday.
Russia pulled out of a UN-backed deal in July to allow Ukrainian exports to leave from three approved ports.
Since then, Kyiv has launched what it calls a new temporary humanitarian corridor in an effort to break Russia’s de facto blockade. In recent days, two ships have sailed from the Ukrainian port of Chornomorsk through the canal.
Securing insurance cover has been crucial.
London-based Miller said it had teamed up with British maritime technology company Clearwater Dynamics (CWD) to develop a war risk insurance facility for grain shipments through three ports, including Chornomorsk, as well as Odesa and Pivdennyi.
Miller declined to name the underwriters involved in the facility, which offers both cargo and hull insurance for a vessel.
“This is a commercial facility and the underwriters involved will settle any claims,” a Miller spokesman said.
“The three main grain export ports are the areas to be covered. But onward voyages outside the Black Sea can also be included in the cover,” the spokesman said, adding that the policy was awaiting formal enquiries.
The facility will use CWD’s technology to enable ship tracking and real-time monitoring of a vessel in transit, in port and until it leaves the high-risk area, Miller said.
Ukraine’s Ministry of Agriculture was not immediately available for comment.
Agriculture Minister Mykola Solsky told Ukrainian television on Tuesday that the first ships to leave were “very expensive”, although freight costs had fallen.
“An insurance market for the greater Odesa area has already emerged. There is a trend,” said Solsky.
Russia hit Ukrainian port infrastructure and grain storage facilities in an overnight drone strike on the grain-exporting district of Izmail, Ukrainian officials said on Tuesday.
