‘Glimmer of hope’ as Ukraine grain ship leaves Odesa Port

UKRAINE: The first ship to carry Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea since Russia invaded Ukraine five months ago left the Port of Odesa for Lebanon on Monday under a safe passage deal described as a glimmer of hope in a worsening global food crisis.

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 has become a drawn-out war of attrition.

The Sierra Leone-flagged ship Razoni will head to the port of Tripoli, Lebanon, after transiting Turkey’s Bosphorus Strait linking the Black Sea, which is dominated by Russia’s navy, to the Mediterranean. It is carrying 26,527 tonnes of corn.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, in an evening video address, described the shipment as “the fist positive signal that there is a chance to stop the development of a world food crisis.”

Ukraine, known as Europe’s breadbasket, hopes to export 20 million tonnes of grain in silos and 40 million tonnes from the harvest now under way, initially from Odesa and nearby Pivdennyi and Chornomorsk, to help clear the silos for the new crop.

– JAPAN TODAY