First Sea Caravan Carrying Ukrainian Agricultural Products Leaves Odesa Region

As part of the implementation of the agreement on the safe transportation of grain and foodstuffs, the first caravan carrying Ukrainian food left the ports of “Odesa” and “Chornomorsk” today.

As the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine informs, three bulk carriers NAVI STAR, ROJEN and POLARNET are carrying 57,000 tonnes of Ukrainian corn, which are transported to buyers in Turkey, Great Britain, and Ireland.

“With today’s caravan, we fully launch the grain initiative in the port ‘Chornomorsk.’ 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. To do this, we plan to ensure the port capacities to handle more than 100 ships per month,” said Ukrainian minister Oleksandr Kubrakov.

He also noted that the “grain corridor” has already started working for departure, but the goal of the Ukrainian authorities is the full-fledged operation of the ports in both directions. Applications are already being received from shipowners who are ready to enter Ukrainian ports for loading.

“Our goal is at least three million tonnes of agricultural products per month from the ports ‘Odesa,’ ‘Chornomorsk,’ and ‘Pivdenny,’” the official added.

As a reminder, on 1 August, as part of the implementation of the agreements, the first ship – RAZONI – left ‘Odesa’ port, carrying 26,000 tonnes of Ukrainian corn to the Lebanese port of Tripoli. The ship passed through the sea corridor and was successfully checked by the inspection team in Istanbul on August 3.

Bohdan Marusyak