Danube grain shipping backlog swells to 80 vessels as Ukraine reroutes exports

The number of vessels waiting to enter the Danube en route to Ukraine's river ports has grown to roughly 80 over the past five days, a shipping company said on Monday. Traffic through the Sulina Canal — the only channel deep enough for ships heading to the ports of Reni and Izmail — is gradually improving, though clearing the backlog could take weeks.

Russian attacks have largely shut Ukraine's main Black Sea ports, which once handled about 90% of the country's grain exports. Kyiv has shifted cargo to Danube river ports, which have far lower capacity, creating a bottleneck at the canal's entrance.

Delays have been blamed on a shortage of pilots and the need to prioritise certain cargoes, including fuel. While only about five vessels a day entered the canal last week, at least seven were expected to enter on Monday, with more possible as pilots become available.

"In theory, if we can move around 10 vessels into Sulina per day, we should be able to clear the queue of about 80 vessels," said Katerina Kononenko from Avalon Shipping. She added that reducing the queue to around 10 vessels could take several weeks.

A rise in inbound traffic could create new bottlenecks on departures, as more vessels will need to exit through the canal and undergo mandatory inspections with a limited number of inspectors.

Ukrainian railway operator Ukrzaliznytsia said it can transport 500,000 metric tons of grain a month to Izmail and Reni. However, operations are hampered by vessel shortages and frequent air-raid alerts. The Odesa region, home to both ports, has recorded 300 air-raid alerts since the start of August, lasting a combined 238 hours. Transport workers say entire days can pass without a single grain wagon being unloaded because of the alerts.

Analyst data showed the volume of grain heading to Danube ports rose 35% over the week.