According to Turkey's defence ministry, two more ships departed Ukraine's Black Sea ports on Friday, one of them carrying the first Ukrainian wheat to be exported under a deal mediated by the U.N.
Following the agreement with Russia to allow the restart of grain exports from Ukraine's Black Sea ports after they had been halted for five months due to the war, a total of 14 ships have now sailed from Ukraine during the previous two weeks. View More
The United Nations and Turkey worked together to arrange the agreement, which was agreed last month amid worries that the loss of Ukrainian grain supply would cause catastrophic food shortages and even famine breakouts in some regions of the world.
The Belize-flagged Sormovsky left Ukraine’s Chornomorsk port on Friday, Turkey’s defence ministry said, carrying 3,050 tonnes of wheat to Turkey’s northwestern Tekirdag province.
It was the first shipment of wheat from Ukraine, which, along with Russia, accounted for nearly a third of global wheat exports before Feb. 24, when Moscow launched what it describes as a “special operation” to demilitarise its neighbour.
Ukraine has some 20 million tonnes of grain left over from last year’s crop, while this year’s wheat harvest is also estimated at 20 million tonnes. read more
The Marshall Island-flagged Star Laura also departed from the port of Pivdennyi, bound for Iran with 60,000 tonnes of corn aboard, the ministry said.
So far most of the cargoes under the deal have carried grain for animal feed or for fuel.
There have yet to be shipments to countries most at risk from the global food crisis, although on Thursday Ukraine said a ship is due to come into port that is scheduled to take grain to Ethiopia. read more
As part of the U.N. deal, all ships are inspected in Istanbul by the Joint Coordination Centre, where Russia, Ukrainian, Turkish and U.N. personnel work.
The Razoni, the first ship to depart Ukraine under the deal, docked in Turkey on Thursday and was headed to Egypt on Friday, Refinitiv ship tracker data showed, after its initial buyer in Lebanon refused delivery.
Shipping agent Toros, which managed the Razoni’s offloading in Turkey, said on Thursday that the ship would drop off 1,500 tonnes of its 26,527-tonne load of corn in southern Turkey’s Mersin and the rest of it would go to Egypt. read more
The Rahmi Yagci, which left Ukraine on Tuesday for Istanbul, was anchored on the northern end of Istanbul’s Bosphorus Strait on Friday, while the Mustafa Necati, which left for Italy on Sunday, was anchored on the southern end.
Four other vessels were approved for travel to Ukraine after being inspected by a JCC team in Istanbul. Turkey’s defence ministry said on Thursday that the ships that arrived in Ukraine were being loaded.
It was not immediately clear when they would leave. The U.N. has said the number of inbound ships was expected to grow as grain sales are agreed.