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Join on Telegram Rabat – A ship carrying grain exports left the Ukrainian port of Odesa on Monday under a safe passage agreement, marking the first such shipment since the Russian invasion blocked shipping routes in the Black Sea five months ago.
Razoni, the ship carrying the 26,527 tonne shipment of corn, will head to Lebanon, following a deal between Russia and Ukraine that was brokered by Turkey and the UN.
Amid a mushrooming food crisis worldwide, the safe passage agreement is being hailed as a “relief to the world.”
“This is an agreement to help avoid a food shortage catastrophe for millions around the globe and provide much-needed relief to the most vulnerable people & countries,” UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said of the agreement. “It is a beacon of hope, possibility & relief.”
The ship is scheduled to anchor off Istanbul on Tuesday and be inspected by a team of Russian, Ukrainian, Turkish, and UN representatives, with more ships scheduled to follow with almost 600,000 tonnes of cargo.
“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,” Ukraine’s foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Twitter.
With Ukraine and Russia accounting for a third of global grain exporters, the shipping disruptions caused by the ongoing Ukraine war have resulted in a sharp rise in food prices worldwide, exacerbating food security concerns for importer countries.
Intense fighting along Ukraine’s eastern coasts, as well as sanctions on Russian exports, have prevented shipments from leaving for their destinations since the war began in February.
International institutions such as the UN have warned of increased risk of famines in multiple regions this year, due in part to the far-reaching repercussions of the Ukraine-Russia conflict.
