Ship Insurance Facility Set Up for Ukraine Grain Exports

A new marine insurance facility for Ukrainian grain exports using the country's sea corridor has been set up in conjunction with Ukraine's authorities, insurance broker Miller said on Tuesday.

Russia quit a U.N.-backed deal in July to enable exports from Ukraine to sail from three approved ports.

Since then, Kyiv has launched what it calls a new temporary humanitarian corridor in an effort to break Russia's de facto blockade. Two ships have sailed in the recent days from the Ukrainian port of Chornomorsk using the channel.

Securing insurance cover has been vital.

London-headquartered Miller said it had teamed up with British maritime technology company Clearwater Dynamics (CWD) to develop a war risks insurance facility for grains shipments via three ports including Chornomorsk as well as Odesa and Pivdennyi.

Miller declined to name the underwriters involved in the facility, which offered both cargo and hull insurance for a ship.

"This is a commercial facility and the underwriters involved will settle all losses," a Miller spokesperson said.

"The three main grain export ports are the areas to be covered. But onwards voyage outside the Black Sea can also be built into coverage," the spokesperson said, adding that the policy was waiting for formal enquiries.

The facility will use CWD’s technology to enable ship tracking and real time monitoring of a vessel in transit, in port and until it exits the high-risk area, Miller said.

Ukraine's farm ministry was not immediately available for comment.

Farm minister Mykola Solsky told Ukrainian TV on Tuesday that the first ships to leave "were very expensive", although the cost of freight had fallen.

"An insurance market for the greater Odesa area has already emerged. There is a trend," Solsky said.

Russia hit Ukrainian port infrastructure and grain storage facilities in an overnight drone strike on the grain exporting district of Izmail, Ukrainian officials said on Tuesday.

(Reuters - Reporting by Jonathan Saul and Pavel Polityuk; Editing by Mark Potter)