A fourth is headed to Chernomorsk to load grain, making it the first ship to dock in a Ukrainian port since the start of the war.
Three more grain ships have left Ukraine on Friday morning thanks to the UN-backed deal for Russia to lift the blockade of Ukrainian ports to ease the global food crisis, the Turkish Defense Ministry said. Ships loaded with corn will land in Ireland, England and Turkey, the ministry said in a statement.
They sail under the control of the Joint Coordination Center (JCC) established in Istanbul on July 22 between Russia and Ukraine, with Turkey and the UN as mediators, to allow the export of Ukrainian grain, blocked since the Russian invasion on February 24.
The Panamanian-flagged ship ‘Navistar’ has left Odessa for Ireland with 33,000 tons of corn. The Maltese-flagged ‘Rojen’ heads for England from the port of Chornomorsk with 13,000 tons. And the Turkish freighter ‘Polarnet’ has left Chernomorsk for Turkey with 12,000 tons of grain.
In parallel, the ‘Fulmar’, under the flag of Barbados, was heading towards this same Ukrainian port to load, according to the Turkish ministry.
The first Ukrainian grain ship, the ‘Razoni’, left Odessa last Monday loaded with 26,000 tons of corn bound for Lebanon. The Sierra Leone-flagged ship was inspected Wednesday in Istanbul’s Bosphorus Strait by the CCC, a team that includes officials from Turkey, the UN and both sides in the conflict.
Russia and Ukraine are the world’s main grain suppliers. The export blockade sent food prices skyrocketing around the world.
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