Insurance brokers have warned that continued attacks on vessels in the Black Sea will lead to higher costs for “war insurance” which could push up the price of “critical trade zone commodities,” the Financial Times reported.
In the last month attacks in the Black Sea has tripled as Ukrainian naval forces have been targeting Vladimir Putin’s sanctioned shadow fleet oil tankers.
The Financial Times reported, “The cost of war risk insurance for ships sailing through the Black Sea — a critical trade zone for commodities such as grain and oil — jumped after attacks by Ukrainian special forces on infrastructure including Russia’s Novorossiysk port.”
A commodities broker from Marsh said that their clients prices have soared by more than 200% and Baker said the steepest increases has been seen in the Russian areas of the Black Sea, which borders Turkey, Ukraine and Georgia.
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Baker warned, “Russia will escalate things into Ukraine, so we will probably see further increases in rates in the region.”
The broker said the largest hikes were for tankers linked to Russia including bulk carriers that carries grain and other types of cargo.
A maritime expert said the attacks has sent shockwaves through the shipping community and has frightened owners of tankers who are doing a “legitimate trade” may also be targeted.
Last week explosions were reported off the coast of Senegal as a Turkish tanker was damaged, after which Istanbul-based owner, Besiktas Shipping suspended all “Russian linked voyages.”
Baker said the attack may have been carried out by Ukraine to disrupt Russian tanker activities, although this has not been confirmed.
Last Tuesday a Russian oil tanker was hit again in the Back Sea, which is the fourth incident in a week as Ukrainian forces are stepping up their attack on Putin’s shadow fleet.
The Turkish directorate of maritime affairs said the tanker, Midvolga 2 was hit 80 miles of their coastline by a Ukrainian drone as it sailed from Georgia carrying a cargo of sunflower oil.
The ship did not request any help and no injuries were reported among their thirteen crew members.
Last week Ukraine “successfully” attacked two sanctioned Russian oil tankers using Sea Baby naval drones off Turkey’s Black Sea coast.
A source from the Security Services of Ukraine (SBU) told the Kyiv Independent the two ships, the Kairos and Virat were disabled in the attack and that they could have transported almost $70 million worth of oil.
Putin is using several hundred shadow fleet oil tankers to bypass Western sanctions and the two vessels were en route to the Russian port of Novorossiysk to collect more cargo.
The SBU source told the Kyiv Independent the drones “successfully completed their work on the ships,” they added it was a joint operation with the Ukrainian Navy which “a significant blow to Russian oil transportation.
Putin has since threatened that the Kremlin could strike ships in the Black Sea of those countries who are backing Ukraine following a series of Russian shadow fleet vessels being blown up.
Putin told reporters when asked about the attacks on oil tankers, “What the Ukrainian armed forces are doing now is piracy.”
The Russian despot said Moscow will in the first instance “expand the range of strikes” on ports and incoming vessels to Ukraine.
The dictator said, “Secondly, if this continues, we will consider the possibility – I’m not saying we will do this, but we will consider the possibility – of retaliatory measures against the vessels of those countries that assist Ukraine.”
