A ship bound for Ireland left the Ukrainian port of Odesa today carrying 33,000 tonnes of grain.
The Navistar, a Panamanian cargo ship, was one of three vessels that left the war-torn region after a deal was brokered to allow grain shipments to pass through the Black Sea.
The sea has been off limits to cargo ships since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine but Turkey and the United Nations managed to secure a deal to allow grain shipments safe passage.
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The Navistar is expected to arrive in Ireland in about two weeks’ time when it will deliver its cargo to R&H Hall, an Irish animal feed supplier.
The ship has been docked in Odesa since 23 February and a small crew was left in place to maintain it and check on the corn on board.
Ukraine and Russia together produce about one third of the world’s wheat and the war has meant that supply of grain has been low and prices high.
After the UN warned that famines would result from the blocking of grain shipments, Turkey was able to broker an agreement between the two sides of the conflict.
As well as the Navistar, two other ships, one bound for Britain and the other for Turkey, left Odesa on the same day.
The Financial Times reported that Ukraine has called for the kinds of shipments allowed safe passage through the Black Sea should be expanded to include metal ore.
“What’s the difference between grain and ore?” asked Ukraine’s Deputy Economy Minister Taras Kachka when speaking to the newspaper.
Five months after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the fighting in the eastern provinces continues. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has described the situation facing his soldiers in the Donbas region as “hell.”
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