With grain shipments continuing to grow and a shortage of storage space after the Russian attacks on port facilities, the Ukrainian Asset Recovery and Management Agency (ARMA) plans to turn the tables on Russia. The agency announced that its appointed surveyor has completed the survey of a seized Russian-owned bulker and they are now seeking a manager to run the ship for grain storage.
The bulker Emmakris III (73,000 dwt) has been detained at the port of Chornomorsk in the Odesa region since the Russian invasion of the country in February 2022. Built in 2000 and registered in Panama, Ukraine was successful in seizing the vessel. ARMA presented evidence in court that although the vessel’s registered owners are reported to be the UAE, the beneficial owners are a Russian company, Linter, registered in the city of Rostov-on-Don.
The Pechersk District Court of Kyiv gave control of the vessel to ARMA at the request of the Prosecutor General’s Office as part of the investigation into its Russian owner. The Russian-owned ship was one of the more than 100 foreign vessels that were unable to leave Ukrainian ports in the wake of the invasion.
At the start of the war, the Emmakris III was in Ukraine to load approximately 60,000 tons of grain bought by the Egyptian government. Pictures of the ship show it sitting abandoned at the port riding high in the water.
ARMA said that after is appointed surveyors carried out a detailed inspection of the Emmakris III, it was ascertained that it is in a “healthy state.” ARMA reports it intends to use the ship as a floating grain storage vessel for transshipment and conservation of dry goods under the management of an independent operator. The agency is preparing all the necessary documentation for transferring the vessel. They have set a value on the vessel of approximately $2.6 million.
"Over the past year, the cost of grain storage has increased significantly, which is associated with an increase in the cost price and an increase in the risk of product storage. Given the limited capabilities of the Odesa region's port infrastructure for the transshipment of grain cargoes, this asset may have a high investment interest of market operators," said the deputy chairman ARMA Stanislav Petrov.
Ukraine highlighted this week the success of the humanitarian corridor that it established a year ago following the collapse of the Black Sea Grain Initiative sponsored by the UN and administered by Turkey. The Ministry of Agriculture released data showing that grain exports surged by 40 percent in the current season to 3.7 million metric tons from 2.6 million in the same period last season.
U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink hailed the success of the export efforts. She wrote on X today “In just one year, 2,290 ships have departed Ukraine’s Black Sea ports carrying 63 million tons of cargo, including grain, to feed the world and support Ukraine’s economy — a tremendous accomplishment in the face of Russia’s illegal invasion.”
