Twelve vessels carrying Ukrainian agricultural products left the ports of Odesa, Chornomorsk, and Pivdennyi on Monday, 31 October, under the Black Sea Grain Initiative that established a humanitarian maritime corridor to allow ships to export grain and other foodstuffs from Ukraine.
The Ukrainian Ministry of Infrastructure announced this in a statement, the CFTS portal reports.
According to the ministry, the vessels are transporting 354,500 tons of agricultural products to countries in Africa, Asia, and Europe.
They include the Ikaria Angel bulk carrier, which is transporting Ukrainian wheat to Ethiopia. It is the seventh vessel chartered by the United Nations World Food Program.
The Ministry of Infrastructure also confirmed the reports that four vessels have been approved to enter Ukrainian ports to load goods, following their inspection by the Joint Coordination Center in Istanbul (JCC) a day earlier. All the parties to the Black Sea Grain Initiative, including representatives of Russia, took part in the inspections.
As the CFTS portal reported, the Joint Coordination Center in Istanbul agreed a plan for the movement of 16 vessels through the humanitarian maritime corridor for 31 October without the participation of Russian representatives.
The UN Secretariat at the JCC has said in a statement that it, in close cooperation with the Turkish delegation at the JCC, “continues to engage all representatives to offer options on next steps regarding the JCC operations in accordance with the goals and provisions stated in the initiative.”
To continue implementing the Black Sea Grain Initiative, it was proposed that the Turkish and United Nations delegations provide 10 inspection teams aiming to inspect 40 outbound vessels on 31 October, the statement said.
The Russian Federation announced on 29 October that it was suspending its participation in the Black Sea Grain Initiative.
