Four more ships carrying almost 170,000 tonnes of corn and other foodstuffs sailedfromUkrainianBlack Sea ports on Sunday undera deal to unblock the country’s exportsafter Russia’s invasion,UkrainianandTurkishofficialssaid.
The United Nations and Turkey brokered the agreement last month after warnings that the halt in grain shipments caused by the conflict could lead to severe food shortages and even outbreaks of famine in parts of the world.
UkrainianInfrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said there were plans to step up shipments still further.
“We are gradually moving on to larger volumes of work. We plan to ensure the ability of the ports to handle at least 100 vessels per month in the near future,” he added.
Ukrainewould soon also start exporting grainfromits Black Sea port of Pivdennyi, an expansion that would let it send out a total of at least 3 million tonnes of goods a month, the minister said on Facebook.
Before Russiastarted what it calls its “special military operation,”Russia andUkrainetogether accounted for nearly a third of global wheat exports.In peacetime,Ukraineexported up to 6 million tonnes of grainfromits Black and Azov seaports every month.
The resumption of grain exports is being overseen by a Joint Coordination Centre (JCC) in Istanbul where Russian,Ukrainian,Turkishand U.N. personnel are working.
The firstcargoship leftUkraineunder the agreement on Monday last week, and another three followed on Friday.
The JCC said late on Saturday it had authorized five new vessels to pass through the Black Sea corridor:fourvessels outboundfromUkraine’s Chornomorskand Odesaports, carrying161,084 metric tonnes of foodstuffs, and one heading intoUkraineto pick up grain.
CORN, MEAL, SUNFLOWER OIL
Theshipsthat leftUkrainianports included Glory, with acargoof 66,000 tonnes of corn bound for Istanbul, and Riva Wind, loaded with 44,000 tonnes of corn, heading for Turkey’s Iskenderun, theTurkishdefense ministry said.
It said the other two vesselsthat leftUkrainewere Star Helena, with acargoof 45,000 tonnes of meal heading to China, and Mustafa Necati, carrying 6,000 tonnes of sunflower oil and heading for Italy.
Later on Sunday,Ukraine’s Infrastructure Ministry said the bulk carrier Fulmar S, which had reached the Black Sea port of Chornomorsk on Saturday – the first foreign-flagged ship to arrive inUkrainesince the conflict – was ready for loading.
The JCC said ithad nearly finished drafting procedures to implement the grain deal and they would be published in days.
It added that it had alsoauthorized the movement, pending inspection, of Osprey S, inbound for Chornomorsk. That ship is currently at anchorage northwest of Istanbul.
TheTurkishDefence Ministry said the JCC had completed inspections of the ship Rojen carrying 13,000 tonnes of corn to Britain, Polarnet which is taking 12,000 tonnes of corn to aTurkishport and Osprey S, which is heading toUkraine.
On Saturday, the JCC completedits inspectionof Navistar,the other one of three vesselsthatleftUkrainianports on Friday.
The first ship to leave aUkrainianport under the deal will not arrive in Lebanon on Sunday as planned, theUkrainianembassy in Lebanon said. The Razoni left Odesaon Mondaycarrying 26,527 tonnes of corn.
The embassy told Reuters the ship was “having a delay” and “not arriving today,” with no details on a new arrival date or the cause of the delay.Refinitiv Eikon datashowed the Razoni off theTurkishcoast on Sunday morning.
