Black Sea shipping costs up after drones hit two tankers

The cost of shipping commodities through the Black Sea climbed this week after alleged Ukrainian naval drones hit two tankers heading to a Russian port, with fears of further attacks driving up war risk insurance costs. The Black Sea is crucial for the shipment of grain, oil and oil products. Its waters are shared by Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania and Turkey, as well as Russia and Ukraine. War risk rates for a typical seven-day voyage period, which are set by individual underwriters and are based on the value of the ship, rose to 0.5% for calls to Ukrainian ports from 0.4% over a week ago. War risk insurance for Russian Black Sea ports, which is typically higher, was quoted at between 0.65-0.8% versus around 0.6% last week. The two tankers were attacked by navy drones while they were empty and sailing to Novorossiysk, as per a report.

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