The Ministry of Infrastructure sees no reason for reducing the number of ship calls to the seaports of Ukraine after the introduction of martial law, Oleksandr Basiuk, the director of the department for the reform and functioning of sea and river transport at the ministry, has said.
“We do not see the threat of reducing the number of ship calls through Ukrainian ports as a whole due to the imposition of martial law,” he said during the Infrastructure Day of the European Business Association (EBA) in Kyiv.
At the same time, he noted that there is a possibility for insurers to increase the cost of risks, which might affect the price of freight.
“There is the International Ship and Port Facility Security Code, adopted under the SOLAS 1974 Convention. This is a common international practice. We are increasing the level of port security. A ship that enters, respectively, has own security level,” he said.
At the same time, according to Basiuk, the time and thoroughness of ship inspection could be increased.
Infrastructure Minister Volodymyr Omelyan, in turn, noted that problems with ship calls to the ports of the Azov area might arise, first of all, because of the violation by the Russian side of the rights of commercial vessels to freely pass through the Kerch Strait and the Sea of Azov.
