Attacks On Ships In Black Sea May Lead To 12pct Hike In Grain Prices - Reports

ANKARA, Aug 31 (NNN-Sputnik/RIA Novosti) -- Attacks on ships in the Black Sea could lead to a 10-12 per cent increase in global grain prices, Sputnik/RIA Novosti reported on Monday, citing the Ekonomim newspaper, which quoted Turkish business representatives.

Tensions in the region escalated after an attack on the vessel Lider Bordo Mavi under a Turkish operator off the coast of Tuapse in the Black Sea on August 26. The following day, the vessel Lider Kocatepe, which had been sent to tow it, was also attacked. In connection with the incident, the Ukrainian ambassador to Ankara was summoned to the Turkish Foreign Ministry.

"If the problem is not resolved within two months, the price increase could exceed 10 per cent," Kazim Tayci, chairman of the Istanbul Cereals, Pulses, Oil Seeds and Products Exporters' Association, was quoted by the newspaper as saying.

Ukrainian forces attacked more than 206 ships in July alone, according to the Turkish Shipowners' Association report on attacks on commercial vessels.

Captain Mustafa Can, general manager of Transbosphor Denizcilik, said that the intensity of attacks on commercial vessels in the Black Sea has increased significantly over the past month.

"If this process continues for five months, about 150 ships could be sent for scrap, and about 20 of our leading shipowners could disappear from the market," he said.

He added that shipowners are no longer making sufficient profits, their financial stability is declining, and their ability to order new ships is virtually nonexistent.

Turkiye is in contact with Moscow and Kyiv on Black Sea shipping security issues, a Turkish government source told RIA Novosti earlier in the day.

Attacks on civilian vessels in the Black Sea, including Turkish ones, are carried out by Ukrainian drones, Russian Ambassador to Turkiye Sergei Vershinin said in June. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov previously called the attacks on tankers outrageous, saying they were an encroachment on Turkiye's sovereignty.

--NNN-SPUTNIK/RIA NOVOSTI