The ship, carrying the first grain shipment exported by Ukraine since the Russian invasion on February 24, will not dock in Lebanon on Sunday as expected, the Ukrainian embassy in Lebanon told AFP on Saturday.
The Sierra Leone-flagged cargo ship “Razzoni” left the Ukrainian port of Odessa on the Black Sea on Monday with 26,000 tons of corn after Ukraine and Russia signed separate agreements brokered by Turkey and under the auspices of the United Nations.
On Wednesday, Turkish and Russian experts inspected the ship off the coast of Istanbul, before its scheduled arrival, according to the Ukrainian embassy in Lebanon, on Sunday, to the port of Tripoli in northern Lebanon.
“We would like to inform you of the postponement of the arrival of the expected Razzoni ship,” the Ukrainian embassy in Lebanon said in a message received by AFP.
In response to a question about the reasons for the delay, the embassy told AFP that it had “no other information” at the moment.
An informed official source confirmed to the agency that it is possible that the ship will not dock in Lebanon if it manages to sell its cargo to a merchant in another country.
“The ship will go to Lebanon in one case only: if a merchant buys its cargo,” the source said, requesting anonymity.
He added, “The priority for the owner of the ship is to find a merchant to buy its cargo, whether he is in Lebanon or any other country.”
An agreement signed by Russia and Ukraine on July 22, brokered by Turkey and sponsored by the United Nations, allows the resumption of Ukrainian grain exports, suspended since the Russian invasion, and shipments of Russian agricultural products despite Western sanctions, to alleviate the global food crisis and price hikes in some of the poorest countries.
It specifically provides for the establishment of safe corridors to allow merchant ships to sail in the Black Sea and to export between 20-25 million tons of grain.
The Turkish Defense Ministry said a convoy of three new shipments of maize left Ukraine on Friday. She added that the three ships will unload their cargo in Ireland, England and Turkey.