This is Polarnet, with 12 thousand tons of corn. The first to set sail, the Razoni, remains at sea as the buyer in Lebanon rejected the cargo. For their part, Rojen, destined for the United Kingdom, and Navi Star, destined for Ireland, are on their way to those countries.
The Polarnet, a ship loaded with corn that set sail from Ukraine on Friday, arrived at the Turkish port of Derince, east of Istanbul, on Monday..
Thus, the ship became the first merchant ship to reach its destination after the agreement signed in July to export Ukrainian grain to world markets, in the midst of the Russian invasion.
“The first grain ship from Ukraine has arrived at the port of Derince. I thank Turkey and the United Nations for ensuring the safety of the sea route,” Ukrainian Ambassador to Ankara Vasyl Bodnar wrote on Twitter today.
“Ukraine has always been a reliable partner for the transportation of agricultural products and unlike Russia, it does not play the ‘Hunger Games,'” he added.
The first ship loaded with Ukrainian grain arrived at Derince Port. I am grateful to ???????? and ???????? for their guarantees for the safe route of the ship. ???????? has always been a safe partner in the shipment of agricultural products and, unlike Russia, does not play “hunger games”. pic.twitter.com/AmD2aMGL42
— Vasyl Bodnar (@VasylBodnar) August 8, 2022
The Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Dmytro Kuleba, for his part, also stressed on Twitter that “this sends a message of hope to all families in the Middle East, Africa and Asia: Ukraine does not abandon you”.
“If Russia fulfills its obligations, the ‘grain corridor’ will maintain global food security,” the minister added.
First vessel with Ukrainian grain has reached customers in Türkiye. This sends a message of hope to every family in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia: Ukraine won’t abandon you. If Russia sticks to its obligations, the “grain corridor” will keep maintaining global food security. pic.twitter.com/rsSRrsVSUa
— Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) August 8, 2022
What is this ship carrying and what happened to the others from the Ukraine?
The Polarnet, which left Chornomorsk on Friday with 12 thousand tons of cornarrived in Istanbul on Saturday night and was inspected on Sunday by a team from the Joint Coordination Center (JCC), established in Istanbul in July by an agreement between Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the United Nations.
The merchant ship arrived this morning at the port of Derince, about 80 kilometers east of the Bosphorus in Kocaeli province, where will unload its freight, destined for the Turkish market.
It is thus the first ship to arrive at the port under the agreement on the grain corridor, since the first merchant ship to leave Ukraine, the Razoni, whose destination was Lebanon, is still at sea between the coasts of Turkey and Cyprus, after the Lebanese buyer rejected the cargo.
Two other ships inspected last Saturday and Sunday are still en route.
The Rojen, bound for Teesport in the UK, passed the Dardanelles; and the Navi Star, destined for Ireland, is still anchored near Istanbul, where freighters usually refuel before continuing their journey.
With the current agreement, which guarantees safe routes from the Ukrainian ports of Odessa, Chornomorsk and Pivdennny (Yuzhni), it is expected to help avoid a food crisis and famine in several countries highly dependent on these products.