Four Vessels Loaded With 170,000 Tons Of Corn and Foodstuff Set Sail From Ukrainian Black Sea Ports

Four more vessels loaded with about 170,000 tonnes of corn and other foodstuff departed from Ukrainian Black Sea ports under a deal to unblock the country’s exports on Sunday following Russia’s invasion, Turkish and Ukrainian officials reported.

The UN and Turkey had brokered a deal last month following warnings that the ongoing pause in grain shipments brought about by the conflict might soon lead to extreme food shortages and outbreaks of famine in some parts of the world.

Oleksandr Kubrakov, Ukraine’s Infrastructure Minister, said there were additional plans to increase the shipments further.

Ukraine would soon start exporting grain from its port of Pivdennyi, an expansion permitting it to send out at least 3 million tonnes of goods per month, the minister mentioned on Facebook.

Before Russia started its “special military operations,” Ukraine and Russia would account for almost one-third of worldwide wheat exports. In peacetime, Ukraine reportedly exported about 6 million tonnes of grains from its Azov and Black sea ports every month.

The resumption of grain exports is currently being supervised by a Joint Coordination Centre (JCC) based in Istanbul, where Turkish, UN, Russian, and Ukrainian personnel collaborate.
The first cargo ship departed from Ukraine following the agreement last week, and three more followed and set sail on Friday.

The JCC informed on Saturday that it had permitted five new ships to pass via the Black Sea corridor: four outbound from Odesa and Chornomorsk ports in Ukraine, loaded with foodstuff worth 161,084 metric tonnes, and one ship heading toward Ukraine to load grain.

Corn, meal, and sunflower oil

The vessels that departed from the Ukrainian ports included Glory, loaded with a cargo of about 66,000 tonnes of corn en route to Istanbul, and Riva Wind, with 44,000 tonnes of corn, sailing toward Turkey’s Iskenderun, per information from the Turkish defence ministry.

The other two departed from Ukraine were Star Helena with nearly 45,000 tonnes of the meal. It was sailing to China. The other was Mustafa Necati, loaded with about 6,000 tons of sunflower oil and heading toward Italy.

Ukraine’s Infrastructure Ministry reported on Sunday that the bulk carrier named Fulmar S, which had reached the port of Chornomorsk on Saturday – the first foreign-flagged vessel to reach Ukraine since the war began – was ready to be loaded.

The JCC also informed that it had almost finished drafting processes to implement the grains deal, and they would be published within some days. It also added that it had authorized the movement, pending examinations, of Osprey S, inbound for Chornomorsk. That vessel is now at anchorage toward the northwest of Istanbul.

Turkey’s Defence Ministry reported that the JCC had completed its examination of the vessel named Rojen that was carrying 13,000 tonnes of corn to Britain, Polarnet, which is loaded with about 12,000 tonnes of corn to deliver at a Turkish port, and Osprey S, which is heading to Ukraine.

On Saturday, the JCC reportedly finished its examination of Navistar, the other of the three vessels that departed from the ports of Ukraine on Friday.

The Ukrainian embassy based in Lebanon informed that the first vessel to set sail from a Ukrainian port under the deal would not reach Lebanon on Sunday as planned. The Razoni departed from Odesa on Monday, loaded with 26,527 tonnes of corn.

The embassy informed Reuters the vessel was facing a delay with no detail on the fresh arrival date or the cause behind the unforeseen delay. Refinitiv Eikon data reflected that the Razoni was off the Turkish coast on Sunday morning.

References: TVP World, Financial Post