Four more ships loaded with grain and sunflower oil leave Ukrainian ports

On Sunday, August 7, another four cargo ships set sail from the Ukrainian ports of Odesa and Chornomorsk. This was the result of the deal brokered with Russia by Turkey and the United Nations to allow a safe maritime corridor for the export of goods.

These latest loads contained grain and sunflower oil and set sail across the Bosphorus strait for Turkey where they will be inspected on arrival. Two of them are due to dock in Turkey, while after inspections are completed, another of the four will head for Italy, and the other to China.

After the ships left on Sunday afternoon, another empty one arrived in the Black Sea port of Chornomorsk, where it will also be loaded with cargo to be exported.

The Razoni was the first ship to leave Odesa last week as part of this new deal. She had a cargo of 27,00 tons of corn and was due to dock in the Libyan port of Tripoli on Sunday. However, that has not happened.

When quizzed by Reuters this Sunday, the Ukrainian embassy in Lebanon informed them that the vessel had been ‘delayed’. They apparently offered no further information as to its arrival date. Her voyage had been seen as a trial run by the Joint Coordination Centre that had been set up in Istanbul. The Razoni’s experiences would then be used to fine-tune future trips they said at the time.

Ukraine’s task is to guide the vessels through waters previously mined by the Russian Navy. It is a deal that could obviously go wrong at any moment, but it has been initially agreed upon for a period of 120 days, with the added possibility of an extension if both sides are in agreement.

As a result of the conflict, and the subsequent blockade by the Russian Navy, around 20 million tons of grain have accumulated at ports in Ukraine. It is hoped that as much as three million tons can be exported each month as long as the agreement remains in place.

A global food crisis has been created by the cessation of exports from Ukraine, but the country’s authorities have been urging companies back to operate in the ports. Although exports have restarted, President Volodomy Zelenskyy has voiced his fears about security, as reported by bbc.com.

Earlier this year the UK and our allies pledged to address Putin’s threat to food security and end the grain blockade of Ukraine.

This is a welcome first step towards that outcome. I want to thank the @UN and Turkey for securing this agreement. https://t.co/Iqygs7e7AT

— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) August 1, 2022

First grain ship leaving #Odesa. Lets hope that the agreement signed between Russia, Ukraine and Turkey to free up grain exports from Ukraine’s besieged Black Sea ports works without any interruptions, Ukraine needs these exports, the world needs these food grains ! pic.twitter.com/FIIAQaOgRS

— Ramandeep Singh Mann (@ramanmann1974) August 5, 2022