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CAPE TOWN - A ship carrying grain left the Ukrainian port of Odesa for Lebanon on Monday under a safe passage agreement, Ukrainian and Turkish officials said, the first departure since the Russian invasion blocked shipping through the Black Sea five months ago.
Ukraine’s foreign minister called it ‘a day of relief for the world’, especially for countries threatened by food shortages and hunger because of the disrupted shipments.
The sailing was made possible after Turkey and the United Nations brokered a grain-and-fertiliser export agreement between Russia and Ukraine last month - a rare diplomatic breakthrough in a conflict that is grinding on with no resolution in sight. “The first grain ship since #RussianAggression has left port,” Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said. “Today Ukraine, together with its partners, makes another step to prevent world hunger.
The Sierra Leone-flagged ship Razoni will head to the port of Tripoli, Lebanon, after transiting through the Bosphorus Strait with its cargo 26 527 tonnes of grain.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24 has led to a worldwide food and energy crisis and the United Nations has warned of the risk of multiple famines this year.
Exports
Russia and Ukraine account for nearly a third of global wheat exports.
But Western sanctions on Russia and militray action along Ukraine’s eastern seaboard had prevented grain ships safely leaving ports.
The deal aims to allow safe passage for grain shipments in and out of Odesa, Chornomorsk and Pivdennyi. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Twitter: “The day of relief for the world, especially for our friends in the Middle East, Asia, and Africa, as the first Ukrainian grain leaves Odesa after months of Russian blockade.”
Moscow has denied responsibility for the food crisis, blaming Western sanctions for slowing exports and Ukraine for mining the approaches to its ports.
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