Official scale records from the Port Authority for the first quarter of 2026 highlight the role of the Canary Islands in the reconfiguration of global maritime transport. Apart from domestic cabotage traffic and inter-island routes, the raw data shows that large bulk carriers and transoceanic tankers are using the docks of Las Palmas as an indispensable technical platform for their long-distance journeys. The island’s infrastructure serves as a pivot point for commercial vessels providing logistical support to the external routes of Russia and Ukraine amid the restrictions stemming from the war. Vessels of large tonnage under flags of convenience such as Liberia, Panama, the Bahamas, or the Marshall Islands call at the Gran Canaria facility for provisioning or technical maintenance. The database analysis reveals point-to-point routes connecting energy terminals in the Baltic and northern Russia (Ust-Luga, Murmansk, Primorsk, Novorossiysk, or Vysotsk) with emerging economies in Asia, Africa, and South America, as well as strategic freights directed to Ukrainian ports in the Black Sea. The flows of heavy cargo position the Russian port of Ust-Luga as one of the main points of origin for this international traffic. During January, a bulk carrier of 36,396 gross tonnage (GT) and a Liberian flag inaugurated this Atlantic corridor linking Ust-Luga with the Chinese port of Nanxian. In the same period, a vessel with similar characteristics, boasting 46,982 GT and flying a Panamanian flag, completed the same technical call before heading to the Fangcheng terminal, also in China. The industrial and energy supply detected extends toward the Indian market. March data details logistical stops in Las Palmas of two bulk carriers of 35,837 GT and 40,042 GT covering the route between Ust-Luga and the Indian port of Vizag. Additionally, a vessel with 44,218 GT under a Portuguese flag used the services of the Canary port to cover the route between the Baltic and the Kandla terminal, demonstrating the participation of European Union shipowners in these long-haul trade corridors. The Atlantic routes recorded in the first quarter reflect a cross-movement with South America. The product tanker ‘Zaliv Amurskiy’ (or another vessel of 44,370 GT under a Greek flag) called at the anchorage area coming from Primorsk (Russia) with a final destination in the Brazilian port of Itaqui. Reverse transits show crude oil vessels of 28,069 GT with an Antigua and Barbuda flag transporting loads from Paranaguá (Brazil) back to Russian Baltic terminals. Sub-Saharan Africa and the Gulf of Guinea are also integrated into this network of calls. A Barbadian-flagged bulk carrier of 24,109 GT used the Gran Canaria port to cover the itinerary between Vysotsk (Russia) and Port Harcourt (Nigeria). During February, records show a general cargo vessel of 12,936 GT sailing from Murmansk to Tanga (Tanzania), closely followed by another vessel of 17,027 GT heading to the port of Tema (Ghana). The umbilical cord with Ukraine. Despite the complex security scenario in the Black Sea, the Port of Las Palmas serves as a support node for merchant ships that keep the commercial channels of Ukraine active. Database records document that in January 2026, a Liberian-flagged bulk carrier of 22,432 GT made its technical stop on the island covering the import route between the port of Onne (Nigeria) and the Ukrainian terminal of Ilyichevsk (Chornomorsk). In the same week, a twin vessel of 22,137 GT, operating under the same flag, completed its logistical stop after departing from Richards Bay (South Africa) with a declared final destination to the Ukrainian port of Pivdenne. These movements confirm the viability of raw material freights that, relying on the service stations of the Atlantic, sustain the commercial flows from conflict areas outside the control radius of military forces in the eastern Mediterranean.
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