A Turkish freight forwarder chartered a vessel that delivered the first containers to Ukraine's Black Sea ports in Greater Odesa since the war began in February 2022. This marks a significant increase in the country's capacity to handle goods entering and exiting its ports.

The general cargo vessel T-Mare, flying under the Panamanian flag and owned by Majoris Trading of the Marshall Islands, was chartered on February 1, according to VesselsValue data. Based in Istanbul, the freight forwarder, Sea Pioneer Denizcilik, chartered it to operate a feeder service between Constanta and ports in Odessa. On April 3, the 373 TEU T-Mare made its first call at Chornomorsk. The ship, equipped with 40 reefer plugs, primarily carried Maersk cargo. This will supplement the Danube River container services that the carrier continues to operate, enhancing Ukraine's ability to import and export essential goods, including grains, metals, and chemicals. The ship returned to Constanta on the same day, potentially establishing a 'safe corridor' for containers following Russia's decision not to renew the grain corridor agreement in the summer of the previous year.

Daniil Melnychenko, an analyst with the Ukrainian consultancy Informall, stated, "Until now, container transportation has been conducted to a limited extent through Danube ports, but from today it will increase significantly." Melnychenko recalled that last month, Deputy Minister of Infrastructure Yuriy Vaskeov announced that all five Greater Odessa regional container terminals were ready to process containers but would resume operations in stages.

"Traffic was supposed to start with the feeder ships, and container lines would follow them in the absence of incidents," Melnychenko said. The analyst also mentioned the possibility of adding a second feeder vessel to the service if it proves successful.

Additional containers were desperately needed by both shippers and forwarders. Their only outlets have been trucks across the country's western and southern borders or barges on the Danube River, which are limited and comparatively slow. However, Melnychenko expects container lines to utilise the feeder service if it proves safe.

Russia's military opposed the use of containers for the controlled corridors because they feared that arms and equipment for the war effort could be smuggled into Ukraine.

Ukraine has successfully operated its safe corridor since the autumn of the previous year, with bulk carriers using Odesa's ports relatively safely. Turkish liner operators Akkon Lines and Maersk are the only container lines continuing to handle containerised cargo on the Danube River using rail and barge operations. Both are expected to be involved in the development of the feeder service.