Two more ships left from Ukraine’s Black Sea ports on Saturday, Turkey’s defence ministry said, bringing the total number of ships to depart the country under a U.N.-brokered deal to 16.
The Barbados-flagged Fulmar S left Ukraine’s Chornomorsk port, carrying 12,000 tonnes of corn to Turkey’s southern Iskenderun province, it said. The Marshall Island-flagged Thoe departed from the same port and headed to Turkey’s Tekirdag, carrying 3,000 tonnes of sunflower seeds.
The statement added that another ship would depart from Turkey on Saturday to Ukraine to buy grains.
Ukraine’s infrastructure ministry said on Saturday that 16 ships carrying 450,000 tonnes of agriculture products had departed from Ukrainian sea ports since early August under the deal which ensured safe passage for vessels.
The agreement, signed by Ukraine, Russia, Turkey and the United Nations in July, allowed to resume grain exports from Ukraine’s Black Sea ports after they were stalled for five months due to the war.
Ukraine hopes to increase its maritime exports to over 3 million tonnes of grain and other agriculture products per month in near future.