“We have 22 ships waiting on the Ukrainian coast of the Black Sea. Some have also been identified in Turkey. They must be expelled, ”the minister told Turkish reporters.
According to the Turkish agency Anatolu, the ships are loaded with grain, sunflower oil, iron and other materials.
Initially, there were about 200 sailors on board, but some of them had already left, and the remaining “90 unmanned crew” had left and refused to abandon their ship, Adil Karaismiloklu said.
According to the Minister, about 100 cargo ships from various countries are stranded in Ukrainian ports due to the war.
Ankara has been trying to speed up road traffic via Georgia as the conflict has also paralyzed Turkey’s maritime exports to Russia.
Disruptions to traffic on the Black Sea are marine mines, three of which have been discovered off the Turkish coast (two near Phosphorus and one in Romania) in the past three weeks.
Russia said the mines were used to protect Ukrainian ports, which were torn from their anchors by the storm, which did not convince Karaimiloklu.
The Minister said that ten merchant ships were ready for Turkey to evacuate civilians and wounded from Maribol (Ukraine) and to carry humanitarian aid, but they did not sail due to lack of agreement between the conflicting parties.