SHIPS regularly haul grain and metals from Ukraine a month after the first inbound vessel sailed through its new shipping corridor in the Black Sea in defiance of Russian threats, reports Bloomberg.

Thirty-two vessels have called at ports in the Greater Odesa area since the corridor took effect in mid-September, ship-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg show. Cargoes include some one million tons of grain, said Dmytro Solomchuk, a member of the Ukraine's parliamentary agriculture committee.

Ships that called at Ukraine's ports in the month since September 16 had a combined capacity of around 1.4 million tons, according to Bloomberg calculations using Marine Traffic data.

That would be similar to the volume shipped via the UN- and Turkey-backed corridor in the first month that it operated, but it's still just a third of the volumes that went through that route when it was working most effectively.

Ships are now careful to sail closer to the coast of NATO members Bulgaria and Romania to reduce risks. Some vessels using the new route have turned off their location signals as they reach Black Sea ports, ship-tracking data shows.

At least nine of the vessels calling at Ukraine's Black Sea ports were panamax ships, data showed, among the biggest that transport grain globally, showing that some owners are willing to risk sending bigger vessels despite the danger.

Aside from crops, ships have also carried commodities like iron. The original UN corridor only allowed for the shipment of grain, foodstuffs and fertiliser.