The Journey of Cargo Ships from Odesa

While the 2022 harvest will already be significantly smaller than in previous years, the blockade of the Ukrainian Black Sea - where normally up to 95% of the production is exported from - meant that the shipment of the harvest would be in jeopardy with serious consequences for the world's food supply and for the income of the Ukrainian people.

On 22nd July (just in time for the start of the harvest season) a deal between Ukraine and Russia was brokered by the United Nations that allows the export of crops through secured routes across the Black Sea.

The Razoni, a cargo ship flying the Sierra Leonean flag, was the first ship to depart the port of Odesa on 1st August loaded with 26,000 tonnes of maize. Initially the ship was destined for Tripoli, Lebanon, intended to help alleviate the food crisis currently experienced by the country.

Using acquisitions from our very high resolution Pléiades Neo satellite combined with the Automatic Identification System (AIS) data, we are able to track progress of the ship across open oceans. The Razoni can easily be identified in satellite imagery by the blue and red colour of the ship's hull, its length and width, as well as the four large white cranes visible on its deck.

With its 30cm resolution highly detailed imagery and multi-revisit capabilities, Pléiades Neo brings a new level of effective maritime surveillance. Pléiades Neo is ideal for maritime security and environmental applications such as identifying illegal activities/routes, trafficking, oil spill monitoring and illegal fishing.

But instead of unloading its cargo (only 1,500 tonnes of its corn cargo were offloaded in Mesrin), the Razoni left the harbour again and continued its voyage. On 12th August, the ship switched off its AIS beacon near Cyprus.

At this point, there were several possibilities for the ships next destination, including Syria, were assumed by observers. The Pléiades Neo acquisition of Tartus harbour on 17th August, finally showed the destination of the Razoni.

The ship proceeded to unload its cargo here, as can be seen by the activities in the berth and one of the cargo holds already being empty.

Last week was about the Razoni’s journey, leaving Odesa’s harbour for the first grain exportation since the agreement. Today, let’s have a look at its pairs: Navi Star and Riva Wind cargo ships both starting from Odesa. To retrace the respective journey of each ship, let us go through the dates.