Six ships carrying grain leave Ukrainian ports over past two days

On January 14-15, 2023, six ships carrying 153,000 tonnes of Ukrainian agricultural products left the seaports of Odesa region.

That’s according to the press service of the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine, Ukrinform reports.

"Grain Initiative: over the weekend, six ships carrying 153,000 tonnes of agricultural products bound for Africa, Asia, and Europe left the ports of Great Odesa," the report says.

It is noted that one of the ships is the DYMAMIC M bulker, which is carrying 27,500 tonnes of agricultural products to Libya.

Currently, 21 ships have checked in the ports of the Odesa region, to be loaded with 800,000 tonnes of Ukrainian agricultural products. Another vessel is moving through the Grain Corridor toward one of the Ukrainian ports.

The ministry reports that there is a growing line of vessels awaiting inspection in the Bosphorus Strait. As of January 15, there were 109 vessels in the queue, of which 22 are loaded with agricultural products. The ministry emphasizes that the Russian delegation continues to delay inspections and refuses to work after 15:30. So far, only two vessels out of 81, which declared their participation in the Grain Initiative, have been cleared.

Since August 1, a total of 653 ships left the ports of Odesa, exporting 17.5 million tonnes of Ukrainian food products to the countries of Asia, Europe, and Africa.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, on November 17, Ukraine, the United Nations, and Turkey agreed in Istanbul to extend the "Initiative for the safe transportation of agricultural products across the Black Sea" for another 120 days. It initially kicked off on July 22, after which the first vessel carrying Ukrainian food left the port of Odesa on August 1.

Photo: Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine, Facebook