A ship transporting steel products to Africa has left Ukraine’s port of Odessa through a makeshift corridor in the Black Sea, the second ship to do so since Russia pulled out of the grain export deal, Ukraine’s government announced on Sunday.
“The Liberian-flagged Primus cargo ship of a Singapore company left the port of Odessa and took the corridor temporarily established by civilian ships,” the Ukrainian Ministry of Reconstruction said. “It’s the second ship the corridor uses,” he added.
In mid-July, Russia withdrew from the agreement, mediated by the UN, which would allow the export of Ukrainian grain through the country’s southern ports from mid-2022. He then threatened to consider all ships as potential military targets.
In response, Ukraine opened this “temporary” Black Sea corridor in early August, largely controlled by the Russian Navy. Since then, there has been a military escalation in the region by the armies of both countries.
A Hong Kong-flagged container ship that has been stuck in the port of Odessa since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine earlier this month sailed along the route without being attacked.
During the year the agreement was in force, Odessa’s three seaports shipped tens of millions of tons of grain.
With information from DW
