Shipping through Romania's Black Sea port of Constanta was stable and grain exports had increased by end-September, the port authority said, despite a spike in marine insurance premiums driven by increased attacks on cargo vessels.
In September, London's marine insurance market widened the area in the Black Sea it lists as high risk, as Russia's war in Ukraine escalated, with only the territorial waters of Georgia, Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey exempted.
The Black Sea is a vital route for grain, crude oil and refined products and the four countries share its waters alongside Ukraine and Russia.
However, the past three weeks have seen a sudden surge in deadly attacks on commercial ships off the coasts of NATO members Romania and Bulgaria, with at least eight cargo ships hit and some 34 sailors reported dead or missing.
The Constanta port authority told Reuters the total volume of goods shipped through the port by end-September stood at 51.55 million tons, virtually unchanged from the same period of 2025. The data predates the October attacks.
Grain exports through the port – one of the European Union's largest grain shipping centres – totaled 15.8 million metric tons, up 7% from a year earlier.
Ukrainian grain exports through Constanta had also risen to 1.03 million tons compared with 321,000 tons in the first nine months of 2025. The port authority will release figures for this month in November.
The vessels that have been struck lately have either been anchored near or headed towards Romania's Sulina Canal, which links the Danube River to the Black Sea and is the primary export route for Ukraine, one of t he world's biggest grain and food oil exporters.
Although ships calling at Constanta port are not targeted, overall Black Sea risks had pushed up insurance premiums.
"Insurance is available," a source in the London insurance market told Reuters. "It is expensive because of the attacks and a few insurers are shying away.
"But (ship) owners can still get coverage for (the) Romania Black Sea, there's no withdrawal of capacity."
(Reuters)
