Rojen

Four Bulgarian crew members of the "Rojen" returned to Bulgaria in the night of Oct 18, 2023, and landed at Sofia airport about an hour after midnight on Oct 19. The return to their home soil was a fact after a series of failed attempts to return to Bulgaria. Most of the crew are still based in the port of Ashdod, as in the evening of Oct 18, a technical problem caused the plane with the Bulgarians on board to return to Tel Aviv, 30 minutes after the start of the flight. On Oct 7 at 6:30 a.m. a bomb exploded 200 meters from the ship. A total of 17 people remained on board the vessel, 12 Bulgarians and five Ukrainians. The "Rojen" was already half unloaded, but it was expected to leave the dangerous area in a week at the earliest. That is why the evacuation of the crew was necessary.

The 'Rojen' left the port of Chornomorsk on Aug 5 at 5 a.m. with a cargo of corn. The ship was destined to Teesport with an ETA as of Aug 19. The vessel has a crew of 11, five Bulgarians and six Ukrainians, on board. It entered Chernomorsk’s port on Feb 21 and had been blocked there since then. Only in April did the company managed to change the crew.

The 'Rojen' ist the first ship loaded with grain being ready to leave the Ukrainian port city of Chornomorsk, in accordance with the free passage agreement reached between Ukraine and Russia at the mediation of the United Nations last week. The ship is headed for Teesport in Great Britain. It is insured in the West of England P&I Club.More than 80 other merchant ships have lain idle in Ukrainian ports since the start of the Russian war against the Ukraine on Feb 24..