Ports of Greater Odesa have already received 10 container ships – USPA

The Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority (USPA) is working to expand and restore the pre-war cargo range and further develop it. Yuriy Lytvyn, Head of the USPA, said this at the Grain Storege Forum conference, Interfax Ukraine reports.

In particular, he said, the ports of Greater Odesa have already received and sent 10 container ships, and this trend will continue.

According to Lytvyn, based on the current dynamics, 2024 will definitely be a record year and, given a favorable security situation, will reach the average pre-war level of cargo turnover of more than 100 million tons.

Negotiations on the resumption of ferry transportation are also nearing completion.

In April 2024, port operators handled 9.91 million tons of cargo in Ukrainian seaports. This is almost twice as much as in the same period in 2023. The cargo turnover through the Ukrainian sea corridor in the specified period amounted to 7.7 million tons. In total, in January-April 2024, Ukrainian ports handled 37.7 million tons of cargo, compared to 22 million tons in the same period last year.

As GMK Center reported earlier, in 2023, Ukrainian ports increased cargo transshipment by 5% y/y – to 62 million tons. This can be considered the beginning of the industry’s recovery after a difficult 2022, when port cargo turnover fell by 2.6 times compared to pre-war 2021. Iron ore transshipment accounted for 5.9% of the total cargo turnover, or 1.9 million tons. The most dynamic increase in transshipment was observed in the Danube ports (Izmail, Reni and Ust-Dunaisk).