2 yıl önce

First ship carrying Ukraine grain reaches Turkish coast

The first ship arrives at the Turkish coast days after the Türkiye-brokered deal to resume grain exports from Ukraine to the world.

The first official shipment of Ukrainian grain since Russian attack has reached Turkish territorial waters near the entrance to the Bosphorus Strait.

The Sierra Leone-flagged Razoni is due to be inspected on Wednesday by a joint coordination centre established in Istanbul last week.

After the inspection by Turkish, Russian and Ukrainian officials the ship will deliver its cargo of 26,000 tonnes of maize to Tripoli, Lebanon.

"The inspection of the ship by the joint inspection team will begin (Wednesday) morning," the Turkish defence ministry said.

Türkiye, the UN, Russia and Ukraine signed a deal on July 22 to reopen three Ukrainian ports — Odessa, Chernomorsk, and Yuzhny — for grain that has been stuck for months because of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, which is now in its sixth month.

Joint coordination centre

To oversee Ukrainian grain exports, a joint coordination centre in Istanbul was officially opened last week, comprising representatives of Türkiye, the UN, Russia, and Ukraine.

The centre will enable the safe transportation, by merchant ships, of commercial foodstuffs and fertilisers from the three key Ukrainian ports in the Black Sea.

The blockage of deliveries from two of the world's biggest grain exporters has contributed to a spike in prices that has made food imports prohibitively expensive for some of the world's poorest countries.

UN estimates say nearly 50 million people began to face "acute hunger" around the world as a direct consequence of the conflict.

Wheat prices fell sharply hours after the Ankara-brokered deal was signed.

SOURCE: AFP