The Black Sea Has Become the World’s Most Dangerous Waters for Commercial Shipping
The situation in the Black Sea escalated sharply this summer: Russia has been striking Ukrainian vessels and port infrastructure, paralyzing critically important grain exports and fueling fears of another surge in global food prices.
According to estimates from the Turkish seafarers’ union Türkiye Denizciler Sendikası, as many as 23 people died in July alone as a result of attacks on 35 ships — more than during the entire preceding period of the war, which has been ongoing since 2022. These figures make the Black Sea the deadliest region for commercial shipping in the world — even against the backdrop of continued attacks on vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, the Red Sea, and the Gulf of Aden amid the conflict between the US and Iran.
The escalation of the war in Ukraine has prompted the head of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the UN’s shipping agency, to publicly condemn the “deterioration of maritime security around the globe.” Attacks on civilian vessels continued into August.
It is worth recalling that Russia began striking port infrastructure and vessels anchored in Ukraine’s Black Sea ports back in 2022, shortly after its full-scale invasion — which at the time deprived Kyiv of the ability to export grain. History appears to be repeating itself: in July of this year, Russian forces once again struck Ukraine’s main grain export hubs, Odesa and Chornomorsk, key nodes for supplying Ukrainian grain to world markets.
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