Three grain-loaded ships leave Ukrainian ports

Three ships loaded with grain left Ukrainian ports on Friday under a recently concluded safe passage deal, the Turkish Defenсe Ministry reported.

Two grain ships set off from Chornomorsk and one from Odesa, with a total of about 58,000 tonnes of corn aboard.

“We expect that the security guarantees of our partners from the UN and Turkey will continue to work, and food exports from our ports will become stable and predictable for all market participants,” Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov wrote on Facebook after the ships set off.

The first caravan of ships with Ukrainian grain left the ports of Odesa, Deputy Minister of Infrastructure, Mustafa Nayem said
There are 57,000 tons of Ukrainian corn, which are headed to Turkey, Great Britain and Ireland. This resumes shipping from the Chornomorsk port. pic.twitter.com/bPDdbyA6r1

— WithUkraine 24/7 (@With__Ukraine) August 5, 2022

In a rare diplomatic breakthrough in the five-month war, the United Nations and Turkey have brokered a safe passage deal between Moscow and Kyiv, after the organisation warned of famines due to Ukrainian grain shipments being halted.

Ukraine has called for the grain deal to be extended and include other products, such as metals, the Financial Times reported.

“This agreement is about logistics, about the movement of vessels through the Black Sea,” Ukraine’s Deputy Economy Minister Taras Kachka told the newspaper. “What is the difference between grain and iron ore?”

The first grain ship to set sail from a Ukrainian port since the start of the Russian invasion, departed Odesa on Monday.