ANKARA: The first ship carrying grain from Ukraine’s Odessa port has reached the Turkish coast on Tuesday.
The Sierra Leone-flagged Razoni is due to be inspected Wednesday near Istanbul by a team that includes Russian and Ukrainian officials before delivering its cargo of 26,000 tons of maize to Tripoli, Lebanon.
A coordination center in Istanbul is responsible for inspection of grain shipments from three Ukrainian ports to world markets, part of a recent deal struck between Ukraine and Russia along with the United Nations and Turkey.
The ship is scheduled to undergo an inspection on Wednesday morning by a joint control team, according to Turkish officials.
Internationally praised for its mediator role, Turkey has coordinated with Moscow and Kyiv to open a corridor from the Ukrainian port city of Odessa to resume global grain shipments that are stuck due to the Russia-Ukraine war, now in its fifth month.
In July, Turkey, the United Nations, Russia and Ukraine signed a deal in Istanbul to reopen three Ukrainian ports – Odessa, Chernomorsk and Yuzhny – to release grain that had been stuck for months because of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, which is now in its sixth month. Russia has been accused of blocking the exports and weaponizing hunger amid a looming food crisis. Moscow denies it is responsible for soaring food prices, instead blaming Western sanctions on Russia.
More than 20 million tons of grain from last year’s harvest are still awaiting export, according data from Ukraine. Food from Ukraine is urgently needed on the world market – especially in Asia, Africa and the Middle East. The U.N. recently warned of the biggest famine in decades.
Days earlier, Ukrainian grain exports deal signed between Türkiye, the UN, Russia, and Ukraine was a “product” of Ankara’s “diplomatic success”, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said.
“Everyone accepts that the steps taken to overcome grain crisis, which the world is closely observing, is the product of our country’s efforts,” Erdogan said after the Cabinet meeting in the capital Ankara on Monday.
He added that “this work, initiated under the leadership of our country, is an important diplomatic success.” Erdogan’s remarks came after the first grain-loaded ship departed from Ukraine’s port of Odessa for Lebanon earlier on Monday.
Loaded with corn, the Sierra Leone-flagged dry cargo ship Razoni will arrive in Istanbul on Tuesday, and it will continue on its way to the port of Tripoli following inspections in the Turkish metropolis. The ship is carrying a cargo of 26,527 tonnes of corn.
The president noted that “the grain knot was untied” in Istanbul. 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. –Agencies
