ANKARA — The first grain ship to leave a Ukrainian port after Russia's withdrawal from a key Black Sea deal last July reached Turkey’s Bosporus Strait safely on Thursday as Ankara remained reluctant to pursue alternative agreements excluding Moscow.
According to the Marine Traffic website, the Palau-flagged cargo ship Resilient Africa reached Turkey’s Bosporus Strait linking the Black and Mediterranean seas at around 16:20 p.m. Turkish local time. It departed from Ukraine’s Odesa port in the Black Sea, where clashes between Russian and Ukrainian forces have escalated after Russia refused to extend the grain deal. The agreement had allowed safe travel for cargo vessels to and from Ukraine. No information was provided on the destination of the vessel.
Kyiv announced the ship's departure from the Odesa port on Wednesday. Ukraine’s Development and Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said the vessel is carrying more than 3,000 tons of wheat.
“This is one of two vessels that entered the port of Chornomorsk last week through a temporary corridor for civilian vessels established by the Ukrainian Navy,” he wrote on Twitter.
