The first shipment of grain since the start of the Russian invasion in February left the Ukrainian port of Odessa early on Monday (1st), with an agreement aimed at alleviating the impending global food shortage and strengthening Ukraine's finances. The first ship to be sent, the Razoni, sailed carrying 26,000 tons of corn to completion in Tripoli, Lebanon, according to the Turkish government, which helped broker the treaty.

The Sierra Leone flag bulk carrier is expected to arrive in Istanbul on Tuesday (2) and continue on course after inspections. The Razoni was escorted by a Ukrainian forces ship through a mine-filled Black Sea territory to prevent an attack on the strategic port city in the south of the country. Inspection teams, including officials from Turkey, the United Nations (UN) and Russia, are expected to check the ships involved in the agreement under the document signed in Turkey last month.

Export in the midst of a war

The shipment is the first test to allow Ukraine, one of the world's largest grain exporters, to start shipping abroad about 20 million tons of the product that russia's invasion trapped in the country in February this year.

Source: Canal Rural