Zelensky: Second ship safely out of Odesa

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says second ship to leave Odesa is carrying steel, rather than grain

A second ship has used the temporary safe corridor sponsored by Ukraine to leave the port of Odesa and reach Romanian waters, according to a post on X (formerly Twitter) by Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, who said that the ship had been in Odesa since February 2022 and is loaded with steel for African consumers.

According to Ukrainian reports the vessel is the 2006-built, 32,588 dwt bulker, Primus (IMO No 9310757), and left Odesa on the morning of Saturday, August 26. It had been in Odesa since arriving there February under its previous name of Polarstar.

The ship changed ownership and management on July 12. The Equasis data base shows that it is now managed by Singapore based Blumenthal Asia Pte Ltd and owned by Nova Polar Ltd, which lists its address as “in care of” Blumenthal Asia. Previously it had been owned by Greece’s Erma Marine SA and managed by Greece’s Seastar Chartering.

The Primus’s transit from Odesa to Romanian waters has attracted far less attention that of the first ship to use the safe corridor, the containership Joseph Schulte (see our earlier coverage).

The temporary corridor was established by the Ukrainian Navy, August 6, primarily for the evacuation of ships trapped in the ports of Chornomorsk, Odesa and Pivdenny at the time of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation.

According to the Ukrainian Seaports Authority, as of August 23, six vessels with 262,000 tonnes of cargo remained blocked in Odesa region ports. Whether any of these are emboldened to follow the Joseph Schulte and Primus out remains to be seen.