First grain ship expected to depart Ukraine Monday: Turkish Presidency
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The spokesperson for the Turkish president announces that the first ship loaded with grain will depart from the Ukrainian port of Odessa on Monday.
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The port of Odessa
Turkish presidential spokesperson Ibrahim Kalin said Sunday that he expects the first ship loaded with grain to depart from the Ukrainian port of Odessa on Monday.
This announcement comes in the wake of a deal signed in Istanbul between Russia and Ukraine with Turkey and the United Nations on the export of grain and agricultural products across the Black Sea.
The Turkish Star newspaper quoted Kalin as saying the ships loaded with grain were ready to leave the port of Odessa, and the first ship loaded with grain may depart from Ukraine on Monday.
According to the CNN Turk TV channel, the first caravan with Ukrainian grain will consist of 16 dry cargo ships.
They will reach Turkish territorial waters on August 3, and it will be tracked by drones. Also, representatives of the Istanbul Joint Coordination Center (JCC) will use satellites to track the passage of ships with grain.
Turkish media revealed on Wednesday that a joint coordination center would open in Istanbul to monitor the exportation of Ukrainian grain to resolve the global food crisis.
On July 22, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar, and Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov signed a grain deal mediated by the United Nations in Istanbul.
The signing of the agreement was preceded by a meeting of Russian, Ukrainian, and Turkish military delegations with UN officials, in order to hold talks on a possible agreement to resume safe exports of Ukrainian grain from the main Black Sea port of Odessa.
Read more: Ukraine, Russia to sign grain deal in Turkey Friday: Ankara
The agreement includes the Ukrainian ports overlooking the Black Sea in Odessa and two neighboring sites.
Russia and Ukraine play a vast role in the international arena when it comes to wheat and grain exports. They account for an estimated 30% of global exports of wheat, 20% of maize, and 76% of sunflower.
Various organizations and countries have been calling for curtailing the rising food prices and delivering crops to regions facing acute food crises as soon as possible, and the latest development could help in that regard.
