Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar did not specify the port of departure for the ships.
Article written by
Published
Update
Reading time : 1 min.
Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said three new ships carrying grain would leave Ukraine on Friday (August 5th), the state-run Anadolu Agency reported. “The departure of the three boats is planned thanks to the intensive work of the Joint Coordination Center”said the minister, without specifying the port of departure of the ships. “Also, an empty ship should move to Ukraine after being inspected in Istanbul.”
The three boats loaded with a total of more than 58,000 tons of corn are expected to leave their respective ports on Friday morning, the Joint Coordination Center which oversees Ukrainian grain exports said in a statement. Two of the ships will leave from Chornomorsk, in the south of the country, and the third from Odessa. The three new shipments are bound for Karasu (Turkey), Ringaskiddy (Ireland) and Teesport (UK), the statement said.
Monday, the freighter Razoni, left the port of Odessa with a first shipment of grain from Ukraine. After an inspection by Turkish, Russian and Ukrainian experts off Istanbul on Wednesday, it resumed its journey to Lebanon. According to kyiv, 16 other boats loaded with grain were waiting to leave Odessa, the main Ukrainian port which before the war concentrated 60% of the country’s port activity.
This inspection marked the end of a first “test phase” of operations to implement the international agreement signed in July in Istanbul with a view to curbing the world food crisis. The Joint Coordination Center is now testing “an operation with multiple boats” using a secure corridor to circulate in the Black Sea: the three leaving Ukraine and a fourth which should leave Turkey bound for Tchornomorsk.
>> War in Ukraine: how will grain exports unfold?
The document provides in particular for the establishment of secure corridors to allow the circulation in the Black Sea of merchant ships and the export of 20 to 25 million tonnes of cereals. A similar agreement signed simultaneously guarantees Russia the export of its agricultural products and fertilizers, despite Western sanctions.