Ukrainian drone attacks have left Black Sea shipping routes effectively closed,
prompting Russia to begin routing grain from its south through the Arctic port
of Murmansk as soon as next month. Murmansk will use equipment normally employed
for fertilizer loading and a direct-transfer system that loads railcars straight
into ship holds—technology typically used for potash—and is upgrading conveyor
belts to handle larger grain volumes. The port is roughly 2,700 km from Russia’s
main grain gateway Novorossiysk but can be accessed via neutral waters. Russian
firms are converting fertilizer, coal and other bulk terminals in Baltic and
Arctic ports, including Murmansk, to process grain exports.
