Fesco and Kalyon suspend Black Sea services due to rising drone attacks, disrupting logistics and impacting maritime transport significantly.
Maritime transportation in the Black Sea is on alert.
The increase in drone attacks in the Black Sea has severely disrupted maritime transportation in the region. Russian state company Fesco and Turkish regional operator Kalyon announced that they have suspended all their services in the Black Sea due to the rising security risks. This decision is expected to cause significant disruptions, particularly in the logistics flow to Russian ports.
According to experts, Fesco's suspension of operations will significantly limit Russia's imports from East Asia via Novorossiysk. It is anticipated that these cargoes will now be redirected to alternative routes by rail from the Far East or through St. Petersburg.
The decision came after a series of attacks in the Black Sea in recent days. Following the sinking of the container ship Yanina, owned by Fesco, the container ship LDR Yaşar was attacked. Additionally, the Turkish ro-ro ship Nadezhda, sailing off the coast of Novorossiysk, became a target of drones. In the attack, the living quarters of the ship were hit, and three crew members were seriously injured.
Kalyon announced that the risks to the safety of seafarers have reached an unacceptable level, stating that all services on Russian routes have been temporarily suspended. The company reported that the majority of the ship's personnel do not wish to operate under the current security conditions, making the sustainability of operations practically impossible.
On the other hand, Turkey has also issued a diplomatic warning regarding the escalating tensions in the Black Sea. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs called on Russia and Ukraine to refrain from targeting commercial vessels.
In the ministry's statement, it expressed, 'We are deeply concerned that the war between Russia and Ukraine is spreading further into the Black Sea, affecting civilian vessels despite all our warnings. If preventive measures are not taken, the tensions in the Black Sea will have multifaceted negative consequences, particularly for food security.'
The effects of the war are also severely impacting maritime trade on the Ukrainian side. Due to Russia's drone and missile attacks, commercial ship traffic around the Odessa region has come to a near standstill, and port infrastructure has suffered significant damage. This situation is expected to substantially reduce Ukraine's grain and steel exports, negatively affecting tax revenues and national income, which are critical for the country's war economy.
The economic impacts of the attacks are also being felt on the Russian side. According to an assessment by the International Maritime Organization BIMCO, following Ukraine's attacks on Russian tankers, crude oil loadings from the ports of the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea have decreased by more than 60%. During the same period, it was reported that loadings of Kazakh oil via the CPC pipeline also experienced a decline of approximately 60%.
Source: SeaNews Türkiye
