Ukrainian grain freighter "Razoni" arrives in Istanbul much later than planned

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Turkish Admiral Özcan Altunbulak at a press conference on the voyage of the "Razoni" in Istanbul

Photo: ERDEM SAHIN/EPA

The "Razoni" was originally announced for the early afternoon - now the first grain ship to leave Ukraine since the beginning of the Russian war of aggression will dock in Istanbul during the night.

This was stated in Istanbul by the Turkish admiral Özcan Altunbulak, head of the coordination center for grain exports from Ukraine.

The cargo ship loaded with corn will only be inspected on Wednesday morning.

Representatives of Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the UN would inspect the cargo.

According to the information, the ship left the Ukrainian port of Odessa shortly after 8 a.m. on Monday with 26,000 tons of corn on board.

The destination is the Lebanese port of Tripoli.

The ship was originally scheduled to arrive in Istanbul this afternoon.

The Turkish admiral explained the delay with the sea state.

The ship is not scheduled to enter port in Turkey, but will anchor in Istanbul, where it will then be inspected at sea.

The "Razoni" was off the Bulgarian coast in the morning, according to data from the "Marine Traffic" website.

During the night, the ship had switched off its automatic identification system, which allows it to track its route, for more than eight hours before reconnecting to the system in the morning.

The Turkish Defense Ministry gave no justification for this maneuver, which caused the ship to disappear from radar screens.

Agreement on grain exports

Millions of tons of grain have been stuck in Black Sea ports since the Russian attack on Ukraine in late February.

On July 22, Ukraine and Russia agreed on a grain export agreement brokered by Turkey and the United Nations.

In it, Ukraine and Russia undertake to respect safe corridors for cargo ships on the Black Sea and to refrain from military activities there.

The coordination center for grain exports provided for in the agreement was opened in Istanbul last Wednesday.

There, representatives of Ukraine and Russia as well as Turkey and the United Nations will in future jointly monitor the safe passage of Ukrainian cargo ships on the defined routes.

The ships are also to be inspected in Istanbul upon arrival and departure to prevent clandestine arms shipments.

Turkey expects that about one grain export ship per day will be able to leave the Ukrainian Black Sea ports in the near future.

A senior Turkish government official, who declined to be named, told Reuters news agency.

"If nothing goes wrong, one-ship-a-day exports should be possible for a while."

Like Russia, Ukraine has been one of the largest grain exporters in the world.

The ports on the Black Sea such as Odessa could not be used as usual due to the blockade by Russian forces.

This has already led to rising prices and shortages in some primarily poorer countries.

mrc/AFP/Reuters