site.btaFirst Cargo Ship Leaves Odesa via Temporary Corridor

The first ship left the port of Odesa Wednesday after Russia announced the termination of the grain deal on July 16, the Ukrainian Minister for Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development, Oleksandr Kubrakov, said. "Container ship JOSEPH SCHULTE (Hong Kong flag) has left the port of Odesa and is proceeding through the temporary corridor established for civilian vessels to/from the Black Sea ports of Ukraine," Kubrakov wrote.

The vessel is heading for the Bosporus. It is carrying more than 30,000 t of cargo, including foods, in 2,114 containers.

The temporary corridor will be primarily used to evacuate ships that were in the Ukrainian ports of Chornomorsk, Odesa and Pivdennyi at the time of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation.

The last vessel that carried grain under the Grain Deal, left the port of Odesa on July 16. "After the disruption of the Grain Deal, the Russian Federation resorted to systematic air attacks on port infrastructure to stop Ukrainian agricultural export. At the same time, there are information speculations and attempts of provocations in the Black Sea to influence the movement of ships to Ukrainian ports," Kubrakov wrote.