Black Sea Grain Initiative: 11 more ships left ports, 96 are in queue for inspection in Bosphorus

As part of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, 11 more ships with 422,000 tons of agricultural products left the ports of Great Odesa [Odesa agglomeration] in the past two days.

Source: Press service of the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine.

Details: Ships are exporting products to countries in Africa, Asia and Europe.

In particular, the ALANDA STAR bulk carrier with 30,800 tons of wheat is headed to Egypt, and the EUROCHAMPION tanker with 45,000 tons of oil is headed to India.

"The key obstacle in the operation of the ‘grain corridor’ remains the Russian Federation inhibiting the inspection of vessels in the Bosphorus under various pretexts. This has led to a stable queue of 90+ vessels, million-dollar losses for cargo owners, under-export of at least five to six million tonnes throughout the year," the Ministry of Infrastructure emphasises.

As of 27 December, 96 vessels are awaiting inspection in the Bosphorus, of which 71 are at the entrance to ports, and 25 are already loaded with agricultural products. Six out of 10 scheduled inspections take place every day.

"In addition to reducing the number of inspection groups, the Russian side has resorted to the tactic of delaying the inspections themselves due to the requirements to check the parameters of the vessels, which are not regulated by the joint coordinating centre documents and have nothing to do with the subject of the inspection. Due to such actions, the number of the fleet moving under the load of Ukrainian agricultural products has been reduced." the ministry added.

Thus, the port of Odesa recently sent a bulk carrier BRAVE M with 28,000 tons of grain to Libya, which had been waiting for an inspection in the corridor for a month in order to enter the port for loading.

Since 1 August, a total of 605 vessels have left the ports of Great Odesa, exporting 15.9 million tons of Ukrainian products to the countries of Asia, Europe and Africa.

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