Two more ships carrying grain leave Ukraine's ports

One of the ships is laden with the first Ukrainian wheat to be exported under a Türkiye-brokered deal to unblock grain exports.

A total 14 ships have now departed from Ukraine over the past two weeks.
AFP

A total 14 ships have now departed from Ukraine over the past two weeks.

Two more ships carrying food grains have left Ukrainian ports under an Ankara-brokered deal to unblock grain exports, Türkiye's National Defence Ministry has said.

The Belize-flagged ship Sormovsky, carrying 3,050 tonnes of wheat, left the Chornomorsk port and was headed for Tekirdag in northwestern Türkiye.

It was the first shipment of wheat from Ukraine, which, along with Russia, accounted for nearly a third of global wheat exports before February 24, when Moscow launched what it describes as a "special military operation".

The other ship, Marshal Islands-flagged Star Laura, sailed from the Yuzhny port with 60,000 tonnes of corn for Iran.

On July 22, Türkiye, the United Nations, Russia, and Ukraine signed a deal in Istanbul to reopen three Ukrainian Black Sea ports for exporting Ukrainian grain stuck due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, which is now in its sixth month.

READ MORE: How Türkiye made Ukraine grain exports deal with Russia possible

Landmark deal

To oversee the process, a Joint Coordination Centre in Istanbul was launched on July 27, comprising representatives from the three countries and the UN to enable safe transportation of commercial foods items and fertilisers by merchant ships.

A total 14 ships have now departed from Ukraine over the past two weeks following the deal to allow a resumption of grain exports from Ukraine's Black Sea ports, after they were stalled for five months due to the conflict. The first ship departed on August 1.

So far most of the cargoes under the deal have carried grain for animal feed or for fuel.

Ukraine has some 20 million tonnes of grain left over from last year's crop, while this year's wheat harvest is also estimated at 20 million tonnes.

READ MORE: First shipment of Ukraine grain leaves Odessa under Türkiye-brokered deal

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