Step by step: The chronicles of opening a “grain corridor” from Ukraine

The first vessel has already left Ukrainian port as part of the Istanbul Agreements. USM editors follow the opening of the “grain corridor”, below we collect everything that is known about the organization of the passage and departure of vessels from three Black Sea ports of Ukraine.

July 22. An agreement was signed on the export of Ukrainian grain was signed in Istanbul. Ukraine signed an agreement with Turkey and the UN, russia signed a mirror agreement with Turkey and the UN.

 The agreement identified the ports of Pivdennyi, Odesa and Chornomorsk as the key ones for the export of Ukrainian cargo.

July 23. Russia commited rocket shelling on the Odesa sea trade port. Two russian missiles hit the infrastructure of the port. However, the attack did not affect the implementation of the Agreements.

July 24. USPA started to receive the bookings on the inclusion of vessels in grain caravans foreseen by the Istanbul Agreement.

July 25. The Ministry of Infrastructure announced that the port of Chornomorsk will be the first to send the exporting grain through the corridor.

July 26. In Istanbul the Coordination Center started its operation for monitoring “grain corridors” started to operate.

July 27. In the ports of Odesa, Chornomorsk, and Pivdennyi, examined the waters : search for underwater objects, installation of special means of navigation equipment, etc.

July 28. It became clear, which ship will be the pioneer of the “grain corridor”: the Bulgarian bulk carrier Rojen must be the first to leave the port of Chornomorsk with a shipment of Ukrainian grain. On the same day, the vessel was moored closer to the exit from the port water area. And the second vessel – Polarnet (under the flag of Turkey) was put under load.

The Odesa-Navtex hydrographic station defined the coordinates of lanes for grain carriers heading from Ukrainian ports to Turkey.

July 29. The ambassadors of the G7 the Ambassadors of the G& countries  arrived at the port of Chornomorsk to “mark the importance of the agreement”. The President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived , together with the Minister of Infrastructure Oleksandr Kubrakov and the head of Odesa Regional Military Administration Maksym Marchenko. As part of the meeting, Zelenskyi said that Ukraine is waiting for the confirmation of the lanes from the UN.

August 1. 9:15 a.m. The first ship left the port of Odesa – it was the bulk carrier Razoni under the flag of Sierra Leone. Accompanied by the tug “Bulat”, the bulk carrier is moving to the area of the caravan formation. The Ministry of Infrastructure said that today they plan to form a caravan of 16 vessels at the meeting point of all participants of the “grain corridor” and send them to Turkey to carry out the necessary formalities.

11.00 a.m. According to data from the MarineTraffic system, the vessel has not yet left the ports of Chornomorsk and Pivdennyi.

15:00. The Ukrainian bulk carrier is expected to arrive in Istanbul tomorrow at 15:00, and a general inspection of the vessel and cargo will also take place there.

18:00. The situation in Ukrainian waters is stable, the bulk carrier Razoni and the tug are following the previously determined route. Vessels do not depart from other ports yet.

19:30. The opening of Mykolayiv ports after Odesa is already is already being discussed by the head of the Mykolayiv Regional Military Administration Vitaly Kim and the Minister of Infrastructure Oleksandr Kubrakov.

August 2. 2:00 a.m. The bulk carrier Razoni with Ukrainian grain passed through the “grain corridor” and was near the second agreed “safe zone”, near the Romanian Sulina channel. Then the ship will pass the Bosphorus Strait and head to the port of Tripoli (Lebanon).

15:00. The bulk carrier Razoni was expected to reach the port of Istanbul at this time. It is currently on the approach to the Bosphorus Strait. The bulk carrier is expected to arrive at its destination at 21:00-00:00.

In the evening the bulk carrier Razoni arrived at the Bosphorus.

August 3. 10:00 a.m. According to the Ministry of Defense of Turkey, the inspection of the bulk carrier Razoni should begin at this time.

12:30 p.m. The Ministry of Infrastructure reported that the inspection of the bulk carrier Razoni was completed. The ship was visited by an inspection consisting of representatives of Ukraine, Turkey, the UN and russia.

August 4. 10:00 a.m. The bulk carrier Razoni has passed the Sea of ​​Marmara and is on the approach to the Dardanelles Strait.

15:00. The ship Razoni passed through the Dardanelles and entered the Aegean Sea.

The crew of the tug Bulat returned to Odesa, after the delivery of the bulk carrier Razoni to Turkey.

August 5. In the morning, the first caravan left of three ships with grain left the ports of Great Odesa. Three bulk carriers – Navi Star, Rojen and Polarnet – will transport 57 thousand tons of Ukrainian corn to Turkey, Great Britain and Ireland. They are accompanied by the tug Capitan Nezavitin. The escort is paid for by the shipowners.

Meanwhile, another vessel is going to Chornomorsk to be loaded with grain. The Fulmar S dry cargo under the flag of Barbados has already been inspected by the coordination center team in Istanbul.

August 6. The foreign bulk carrier Fulmar S docked at the port of Chornomorsk to load corn. Since February 24, it is the first vessel to arrive at the port of Great Odesa and the first to enter Ukraine via the “grain corridor”.

August 6. 15:00. The ship Navi Star, which left the port of Odesa, arrived in Istanbul. This is the first dry cargo from the caravan with Ukrainian grain that arrived in Turkey. After the inspection, the ship will pass through the Bosphorus and Dardanelles and head to England.

August 7. 10:00 a.m. A second caravan with Ukrainian food left the ports of Odesa and Chornomorsk – 3 vessels from Chornomorsk and one more from Odesa. On board of 4 bulkers Mustafa Necati, Star Helena, Glory and Riva Wind are almost 170 thousand tons of agricultural products. The ships are heading to the ports of Italy, China and Turkey. The tugs Kapitan Nezavitin and Lotsman Mazhara accompany the caravan.

August 8. Vessels MV Arizona and MV Sacura with a cargo of export grain left the ports of Chornomorsk and Pivdenny. The vessel MV Sacura with a cargo of 11 thousand tons of soybeans will set course for Italy. MV Arizona will deliver 48.4 tons of corn from Chornomorsk to Turkey.

The first ship with Ukrainian agricultural products arrived at its final destination. The vessel Polarnet, which was one of the first to take part in the implementation of the Initiative on the safe transportation of grain and food products from Ukrainian ports, successfully passed the inspection by the inspection team in Istanbul and arrived at its final destination in Turkey.

August 9. The exit of two more ships with Ukrainian grain from the port of Chornomorsk was agreed. The ship Ocean Lion under the flag of Liberia will transport 64,720 tons of corn from Chornomorsk to South Korea. The vessel under the Turkish flag RAHMİ YAĞCI will depart from Chornomorsk to deliver 5,300 tons of sunflower press cake to Istanbul. The inspection of four vessels that previously arrived from Ukraine to Turkey will take place in the coming hours.

August 10. A second vessel arrived at the port of Chornomorsk for loading. The bulk carrier Osprey S will take on board 30 thousand tons of Ukrainian corn.

August 11. The arrival of a grain ship for Africa is awaited in the Southern port. The ship was chartered within the framework of the UN World Food Program.

August 12. The Sormovsky ship with 35,000 tons of wheat left the port of Chornomorsk for Turkey. Also, the ship Star Laura with 60,000 tons of corn left the Pivdennyi port for Iran.

In the evening, the ship Brave Commander arrived at the Southern port. It is chartered by the UN World Food Program to transport food to Ethiopia. 23,000 tons of Ukrainian grain will be loaded onto the ship.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has appointed Sudanese Amir Mahmoud Abdullah as coordinator of the Black Sea Grain Initiative Organization. Abdullah replaced US Representative Frederick Kenney, who was temporarily holding the position.

August 13. In the morning, the Fulmar S bulk carrier under the flag of Barbados left the port of Chornomorsk in the direction of Turkey. The vessel joined the convoy with the bulk carrier Thoe.

August 14. The Razoni dry cargo, which was the first to use the “grain corridor”, arrived at the Syrian port of Tartus.

In the evening, the tanker Efe arrived .  arrived at the port of Odessa. It will be the first vessel on which sunflower oil will be shipped – for the first time since the beginning of the full-scale aggression of the russian federation.

The bulk carrier Sara also called in Odesa port for Ukrainian corn.

The Joint Coordination Center within the framework of the UN Black Sea Grain Initiative allowed a number of vessels to pass through the “grain corridor” in the Black Sea. Kafkam Etler, Zelek Star, Star Laura and Rahmi Yagci have been inspected and approved for dispatch. The ships Great Arsenal, Zumrut Ana, Ocean S and Kubrosliy are also awaiting inspection.

August 16. The bulk carrier Brave Commander, chartered by the World Food Program of the United Nations, left the Pivdennyi port.

A total of 5 ships with agricultural products left Ukraine on this day: two – from the port of Pivdennyi, and three – from the port of Chornomorsk. Also today, the Joint Coordination Center will inspect four vessels that will depart for Ukrainian ports.

August 17. The vessels Sara and Efe departed from the Odesa port to the caravan formation point, and the Petrel S from the port of Chornomorsk. The vessels are carrying 33,000 tons of food – wheat, corn and sunflower oil – in the direction of the Bosphorus.

Conclusions. August 19. For 20 days of grain corridor operations:

• All three ports, Odesa, Chornomorsk, and Pivdennyi, both for exit and entry, are operational.

• 25 ships with 630,000 tons of Ukrainian agricultural products on board left Ukrainian ports for 9 countries.

• 14 vessels were accepted for loading.

• Cargo owners and ship owners made sure of the safety of the passage. Ukraine already has more than 40 new applications for entry.

• Dispatched the first of many vessels chartered by the UN WFP to deliver food to Africa.