KIEV, Sept 16 (Reuters) – Two cargo ships were heading to Ukrainian ports on Saturday, the first to use a temporary corridor to sail to Black Sea ports and load grain bound for African and Asian markets, a senior official told Reuters. position of the Ukrainian Government.
Last month, Ukraine announced a “humanitarian corridor” in the Black Sea to free ships trapped in its ports since the start of the war in February 2022 and bypass a de facto blockade after Russia abandoned a deal to allow Kiev export grain.
Five ships have left the port of Odessa using the corridor that hugs the western coast of the Black Sea, near Romania and Bulgaria.
Ukraine, one of the world’s leading food producers and exporters, also wants to use the corridor for its food exports.
Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said two bulk carriers, the Resilient Africa and the Aroyat, were already en route in the Black Sea to Ukrainian ports to load almost 20,000 tonnes of wheat bound for Africa and Asia. . Transport data showed both ships on routes through the northern Black Sea.
The cargoes are a test of Ukraine’s ability to reopen sea routes at a time when Russia is trying to reimpose its de facto blockade, having abandoned the grain deal in July. Moscow has launched frequent drone and missile attacks against Ukrainian grain export infrastructure.
This week, Ukraine has carried out several attacks with drones and maritime missiles against the Russian Black Sea naval fleet in and around the Crimean peninsula, annexed from Ukraine by Russia in 2014. (Reporting by Pavel Polityuk and Olena Harmash, Edited in Spanish by Manuel Farías)
Source: Ambito
