According to officials in Turkey and Ukraine, the first shipment of grain since February has left the port of Odesa, following an agreement reached between Ukraine and Russia at the end of July.

It is expected that the vessel, which carries around 26,000 tonnes of corn, will dock at the port of Tripoli in Lebanon, according to Turkish officials.

Speaking on Facebook, Ukraine’s Minster for Infrastructure Alexander Kubrakov said that 16 more ships are waiting to depart from Odesa over the coming weeks.

Weeks of uncertainty

The news follows the signing of a deal between Ukraine and Russia to resume exports of wheat through the Black Sea. The agreement was made on Friday 22nd July by representatives from Turkey, Ukraine, Russia and UN secretary general Antonio Guterres.

Commenting on the signing, Gutteres called the deal a “beacon of hope on the Black Sea” that would help “bridge the supply gap and reduce the pressure on food prices.”

Since then, doubts have been cast over whether the agreement would be upheld as news of a missile attack on the port of Odesa followed days after the deal’s signing.

On Sunday 24th July, reports from the Russian government said that it had carried a missile strike on several vessels on the port of Odesa. A Ukrainian military vessel and a number of US-supplied Harpoon anti-ship missiles have been destroyed.

During this period, president of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky vocalised concern on Twitter that Ukrainian harvests could be twice as small as usual expected.

Speaking on the platform, Zelensky confirmed that grain shipments would go ahead despite the recent attacks, and that the Ukrainian government’s “main goal” for the moment is to prevent a global food crisis.