22 August 2024 Windward
Public sources have reported on Russia’s alleged grain smuggling from the Crimean Peninsula and its sale to third-party stakeholders since October 2022, mostly around the Kerch Strait.
More recently, the Ukrainian security services seized the USKO MFU (IMO: 7919781), a Cameroon-flagged and Turkish-owned 94-meter general cargo vessel, for alleged transportation of smuggled Ukrainian grain through the ports of Crimea. The vessel was intercepted in the port of Reni, Ukraine, on July 8, 2024. The vessel operated exclusively within the Black Sea near Turkey, Bulgaria and Romania, between April-July 2024, and conducted several dark activities that could be related to one of the grain smuggling patterns Windward identified years ago
The USKO MFU's sailing path between April 2-July 8, 2024
Based on Windward data and one of our Russian grain smuggling typologies (cargo vessels conducting dark activities within the Black Sea followed by a dark activity in the Mediterranean Sea), there was a 188% increase in dark activities conducted in the Mediterranean offloading area by vessels previously conducting dark activities in the Black Sea loading area from March-July 2024.
Example of a grain smuggling pattern: a cargo vessel conducting dark activity in the Black Sea, followed by a dark activity in the Mediterranean.
Dark activities by cargo vessels in the offloading area in the Mediterranean after conducting dark activities in the Black Sea grain smuggling area, August 2022-July 2024.
Windward AI-powered insights illustrate that the majority of vessels that followed this typology are sailing under the flags of Russia (14%) and Panama (13%); Saint Kitts and Nevis, and Sierra Leone (9% each); Palau (8%) and Comoros (7%); and Tanzania and Comoros (5% each). The data matches the public sources, showing that while most vessels that are conducting these activities are Russian-flagged, there are also blacklisted flagged vessels and vessels using flags of convenience.
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