The first grain ship to depart Ukraine under a wartime deal entered the Bosporus Strait on the way to Lebanon after its cargo was checked and approved Wednesday, Turkish and Ukrainian authorities said.
According to Turkey's defense ministry, an inspection team spent about 90 minutes conducting checks aboard the Sierra Leone-flagged Razoni, which was carrying Ukrainian corn and was anchored off Istanbul. The team included representatives from Ukraine, Russia, Turkey, and the United Nations, who signed an agreement last month to establish safe shipping corridors for exporting agricultural products from Ukraine as Russia's invasion of its neighbor continues.
The checks aim to ensure that incoming vessels are not carrying weapons and that outgoing ones are bearing only grain, fertilizer, or related food items, not any other commodities.
The Razoni, which the United Nations says is carrying 26,527 tons of corn, set sail on Monday from Odesa on Ukraine’s Black Sea coast.
It is bound for Lebanon, its final destination.
More ships from Ukraine are expected to set out in the coming days, raising hope that world food shortages can be alleviated. Some 27 vessels have been waiting in three Ukrainian ports with cargo and signed contracts, ready to go, according to U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric.
An estimated 20 million tons of grain have been stuck in Ukraine since the start of the war. The U.N.-brokered agreement last month to release the grain calls for the establishment of safe corridors through the mined waters outside Ukraine’s ports.
According to Turkey's defense ministry, an inspection team spent about 90 minutes conducting checks aboard the Sierra Leone-flagged Razoni, which was carrying Ukrainian corn and was anchored off Istanbul. The team included representatives from Ukraine, Russia, Turkey, and the United Nations, who signed an agreement last month to establish safe shipping corridors for exporting agricultural products from Ukraine as Russia's invasion of its neighbor continues.
The checks aim to ensure that incoming vessels are not carrying weapons and that outgoing ones are bearing only grain, fertilizer, or related food items, not any other commodities.
The Razoni, which the United Nations says is carrying 26,527 tons of corn, set sail on Monday from Odesa on Ukraine’s Black Sea coast.
It is bound for Lebanon, its final destination.
More ships from Ukraine are expected to set out in the coming days, raising hope that world food shortages can be alleviated. Some 27 vessels have been waiting in three Ukrainian ports with cargo and signed contracts, ready to go, according to U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric.
An estimated 20 million tons of grain have been stuck in Ukraine since the start of the war. The U.N.-brokered agreement last month to release the grain calls for the establishment of safe corridors through the mined waters outside Ukraine’s ports.
