Russian aggression against merchant interests in the Black Sea south of Ukraine is rising at an alarming rate, with news coming in this morning that two bulk carriers have been detained by warships in Romania’s territorial water.
The Afina and Princess Nicole were on their way to the Port of Odessa (see related report posted today) near the Danube Delta when they were allegedly approached by a Russian warship about 19 nautical miles off Snake Island.
Both vessels turned off their Automatic Identification Systems and it’s not clear what telecommunications were exchanged with the navy ship.
However, the current location of the Ukrainian-flagged ships, loaded with grain, are said to be 18 nautical miles west of the coast of Crimea.
Fifty crew are now stuck at sea with very little forthcoming about the Afina and Nicole’s status.
The incidents follow last week’s opening salvo since the invasion commenced on Wednesday, of a Russian navy ship firing missiles at Yasa Jupiter, a Turkish bulk tanker.
In the meantime, Turkey has acceded to the Ukrainian request for Russian vessels to be barred from passing through the straits of Bosphorus and Dardanelles, effectively sealing off access to the Black Sea through the Sea of Marmara.
The Wall Street Journal reports that “in wartime, Ankara can block some warships from countries involved in the conflict from accessing the Black Sea under the 1936 Montreux Convention”.
“We came to the conclusion that the situation in Ukraine has transformed into a war,” said Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, speaking on CNN Turk.
“We will implement all articles of Montreux transparently.”
With tension about the Ukraine crisis reaching fever pitch, the number of merchant vessels in the Black Sea has decreased sharply.
This morning, shipping platform Sea Live reports 109 vessels operative in the Black Sea.
Last week, as Russia’s military breached Ukraine’s borders, 157 commercial ships were still serving ports around the Black and Azov seas.
With the latest incidents of vessel interference bringing to five the number of attacks by Russia’s navy on commercial ships, sea freight in the Black Sea is heading for extreme duress.
Prior to the detention at sea of the Afina and Nicole, merchant security resource Dryad Global issued a warning against commercial vessel activity in the Black Sea.
The warning was issued after Russia’s navy launched missile attacks against three merchant ships last Thursday and Friday.
