Field Office Odessa ports

By virtue of the location, Field Office Odessa is unique within EUBAM. It’s in a port and on the coast! The work is split between the two ports of Odessa and Illichevsk with the added responsibilities of an inland customs post not far from Odessa which is called Odessa Vantajna or Odessa Cargo. Everybody simply refers to it as 6km Customs Post – because it is located 6km from Odessa!

We have office accommodation in each place with internet access which is a huge bonus given the conditions which we know have to be endured by some of our colleagues.

The two ports act as a gateway for importation of goods to Ukraine and transit point to Moldova and ‘Transnistria’ as well as Russia and the rest of Europe. Although much of our time is spent doing similar customs and border-guard work to the other field offices, a significant percentage of our responsibilities revolve around assisting and advising on the management of risk with anti-smuggling teams.

Although both ports are dramatically quieter than they were pre-economic crisis, the detection of prohibited and restricted goods is a priority and the risk has to be managed. We are here to advise and assist with the targeting and selection of freight for scanning or examination. To that end we work with the partners reviewing as many ships’ manifests as practicable, attempting to give guidance on high-risk traffic.

Also, something which sets us apart is the ferry traffic which goes between ports in Georgia, Turkey and occasionally Varna in Bulgaria to Illichevsk. These ferries carry commercial vehicles (trucks), railway trucks, private cars and passengers. All of these present their own challenges, both from a customs and border guard point of view. The traffic coming from Turkey, for example, is a serious risk given the frequency with which drugs coming from eastern Asia pass through here en route to Europe and elsewhere.

Similarly the traffic carried on container ships is many and various, deep sea ships are like buses – just because a ship has come from Gibraltar doesn’t mean the containers inside haven’t come from South America or Hong Kong. As was widely published last year we in the Odessa Office were closely involved with the partners in several commercial drug seizures – three cocaine detections which totalled about 2 tons in weight which were all consigned from Bolivia and 800kg of cannabis resin which started its long journey to Illichevsk in Blantyre, Malawi. An advantage which we have recently acquired is access to ships and ferry manifests which gives ourselves and the partners pre-arrival information and takes away the urgency of trying to discover what is being cleared before it leaves the port or customs station.

The private cars which arrive and depart of also of great interest for Field Office Odessa’s lone border policeman. There have been many attempts to leave Ukraine on these ferries with stolen high value vehicles. Again the prior notice given by the driver on cars coming to and leaving the ports has enabled us to detect many stolen cars – and the occasional truck!

Another activity which is unique to this Field Office is the training given in ships rummage (or search). The customs and border guards board almost all ships and frequently carry out these searches. Our aim has been not only to upskill the partners in concealments and methods of smuggling, but in safety of the officers, from falling, danger of drowning and from enclosed spaces where oxygen levels are low. This has been sucessful and well received but it has been a challenge condensing several weeks of training in our home countries to a matter of hours – often fitted in after a 24-hour shift!

Something else which again sets Odessa port apart, of course, is the volume of cruise ships which come to the port of Odessa throughout the summer. Around 40 different cruise ships berth in the port during this time – these generally cruise the Mediterranean and Black Sea. Some of the ships are small cruisers but others are massive luxury liners – most notable being the 90,000 ton British Ship RMS Queen Victoria, which has a capacity for 2,000 passengers and 1,000 crew. At the other end of the spectrum is the SS Sea Cloud II with its 94 passengers which berthed in early July.

So this was a snapshot of Field Office Odessa, and a brief explanation of what we do which is so unlike the others. Different challenges and rarely dull!

Malcolm Pells, Head of Field Office Odessa