Photo from UNIAN
There is a possibility for insurance companies to increase the cost of risks, which may affect the cost of freight for shipowners, the official said.
Director of the Department of Marine and River Transport Reform and Operation at Ukraine's Infrastructure Ministry, Oleksandr Basyuk, says the ministry sees no threat of a reduction in the number of ship calls to Ukraine's sea trading ports as a result of the introduction of martial law in a number of regions.
"We don't see any threat [of reduction in the number of ship calls to Ukrainian ports] due to the introduction of martial law," Basyuk said on November 28, during a meeting with businesses organized by the European Business Association (EBA).
At the same time, insurance companies may increase the cost of risks, which may affect the cost of freight for shipowners (sea freight charges).
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"There is the International Ship and Port Facility Security Code [ISPS Code], adopted under the SOLAS 74 Convention [the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea]. This is a common international practice. We are increasing security measures at ports," the official said, adding that ships may undergo "longer and more thorough inspection."
In turn, Ukraine's Infrastructure Minister Volodymyr Omelyan, who also attended the meeting, said that problems with ship calls to the ports of the Azov region could arise due to Russia's flagrant violation of the rights of commercial vessels to freely pass through the Kerch Strait and the Sea of Azov.
"There are problems due to the illegal stopping of merchant vessels that have the right to freely pass through the Kerch Strait and the Sea of Azov... At the same time, each port deals with certain products. That is, doing shipments of those products from another region or redirecting to Odesa those products that are [traditionally] delivered from Mariupol and Berdyansk is quite difficult logistically," he said.
According to the minister, the transshipment of goods in the ports of the Sea of Azov is now being carried out freely.
"We'll monitor the situation and respond," said the minister. "After all, what Russia did on November 25 can be repeated at any second."
As UNIAN reported earlier, the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's parliament, on November 26 gave the green light to a presidential decree on the introduction of martial law in Ukraine for 30 days in a number of regions located along the border with Russia and the Transnistrian segment of the Ukrainian-Moldovan border, as well as along the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov.