Danube port logjam strands dozens of grain ships as Ukraine exports slow

Up to 70 vessels are currently waiting near the Sulina Canal, the main waterway access to Ukraine's Danube river ports, as a combination of pilot shortages, prioritised cargoes, and poor weather creates severe delays for grain shipments.

Traders and shipping operators report that only a handful of vessels are moving through the channel each day, far below the number waiting. The congestion follows Russia's effective blockade of Ukraine's Black Sea ports, which previously handled the bulk of the country's grain exports. With those routes shut, exporters have shifted volumes to the smaller Danube facilities, which now face a bottleneck of their own.

Grain carriers are also competing for passage with higher-priority shipments such as fuel, further slowing the flow. Frequent air raid alerts, which force a complete halt to port operations, have added to the disruption.

Consultancy ASAP Agri said that as of August 25, more than 50 vessels were waiting to pass through the Sulina Channel, while only five to seven were moving towards the ports each day. Each day of delay can cost up to $8,000 per vessel, on top of already elevated freight rates. The consultancy warned that the situation could worsen if weather conditions deteriorate.

Katerina Kononenko, operations manager at Avalon shipping, said the canal was expected to close for about two days due to poor weather. She described the current traffic capacity of two to three vessels per day as "very low," calling the setback serious.

Ukraine has relied on Danube ports before, during earlier phases of the war when Black Sea routes were blocked. Grain export capacity through the river peaked at 2.5 million metric tons per month in 2022-2023. Current volumes remain well below that, though they are gradually recovering. State railway operator Ukrzaliznytsia reported that grain transport to Danube ports in August was 11 times higher than in July.

Agriculture ministry data shows Ukraine exported 539,000 tons of grain between August 1 and August 21, compared with 1.73 million tons in the same period last year, underscoring the sharp decline in shipments.