Three more ships carrying grain leave Ukrainian ports under landmark deal
The departure of the ships comes after the first grain ship since the start of the conflict left Ukraine earlier this week under a Türkiye-brokered and United Nations-backed agreement.
One of the three ships, Polarnet, is sailing to the Karasu port in northwestern Türkiye with 12,000 tonnes of grain.
Three more ships carrying grain and food items have set out from Ukrainian ports under a recent landmark deal, according to Türkiye’s National Defence Ministry.
The first of them, Panama-flagged Navist, departed the port of Odessa for Ireland with 33,000 tonnes of grain on Friday, the ministry said in a statement.
The ship will undergo inspection by the Joint Coordination Centre in Istanbul before it continues to sail to its final destination.
The second ship, Malta-flagged Rojen, left the port of Chornomorsk with 13,000 tonnes of grain for the UK, the ministry said.
The third ship, Türkiye-flagged Polarnet, which was waiting at the port of Chernomorsk, sailed to the Karasu port in northwestern Türkiye. The ship is carrying 12,000 tonnes of grain.
Both, like the Navist, will be monitored by the Joint Coordination Centre in Istanbul.
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Landmark deal
Türkiye, the UN, Russia and Ukraine signed the historic deal on July 22 to reopen three Ukrainian ports — Odessa, Chernomorsk, and Pivdennyi — for grain stuck due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, which is now in its sixth month.
Under the deal, the Istanbul Joint Coordination Centre will carry out inspections at the entrances and exits of harbours, and also ensure the safety of sea routes to be used by merchant ships carrying commercial foods items and fertilisers from the three Ukrainian ports in the Black Sea.
Ukraine is one of the world's main breadbaskets and the stocks of grain trapped were exacerbating a sharp rise in food prices and raising fears of a global hunger crisis.
On Monday, the first ship to leave Ukraine under the agreement, Sierra Leone-flagged cargo vessel Razoni, departed from Odessa carrying over 26,500 tonnes of corn.
It got a security clearance in Istanbul after inspection by a team from the Joint Coordination Centre on Wednesday, and is on its way to the Lebanese port of Tripoli, its final destination.
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