A file photo of Vessel Aroyat. Photo :AFP
Sept 22, 2023. Posted by Balkan
Periscope - Hellas
A ship carrying wheat has left a Ukrainian port and was heading to Egypt,
the second such trip since Russia reimposed its Black Sea blockade in July,
Ukranian Infrastructure Minister said Friday.
The Palau-flagged Aroyat vessel left Chornomorsk after being loaded with 17,600 tonnes of grain, Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said on social media.
Ukraine is
testing a new sea route that avoids international waters and follows those
controlled by NATO members Bulgaria and Romania following Russia's withdrawal
from a UN-backed grain export deal.
The first
ship carrying 3,000 tonnes of wheat left the same port earlier this week.
Kubrakov
said the destination for the first ship, the Resilient Africa, was Asia.
Kyiv had
earlier successfully sent several cargo ships along the new route, without
transporting Ukrainian grain.
Russia has
not hit the new pathway, but it has stepped up attacks on Ukraine's Black Sea
port infrastructure after abandoning the grain deal in July.
In late
July, during his participation in the Russia-Africa Summit in St. Petersburg,
Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi called for a “consensual solution to
revive the UN-brokered grain deal in a way that takes into
account the demands and interests of all parties and curbs rising grain
prices.”
The grain
deal in question, known as the Black Sea Grain Initiative, was signed
by Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the UN in Istanbul in July 2022.
The deal
aimed to ensure the safe passage of tens of millions of tons of Ukrainian
grains to many areas worldwide, including the Middle East, which heavily
relies on Russian grain imports.
However, in
early July 2023, Russia withdrew from the agreement, saying there were no
grounds in the current period for remaining in the initiative.
Ukrainian
forces in turn have been aiming to undermine Moscow's military control over the
Black Sea, including with attacks on Russia-annexed Crimea.
Egypt, the
world’s top wheat importer, used to get 80 percent of its imported wheat from
Russia and Ukraine prior to the conflict.
Since then,
Egypt has been diversifying its wheat imports, buying more grain from
other European and Asian sources.
Ahram Online