ISTANBUL, August 18. /TASS/. The route used by the Joseph Schulte container ship could become an alternative to the Black Sea grain corridor for the export of agricultural products from Ukrainian ports. Huseyin Bagci, president of the Foreign Policy Institute, told TASS, commenting on the departure of the first merchant ship from a Ukrainian port since the demise of the grain deal.

"This temporary route can become an alternative to the grain corridor. Ukraine in this case did not violate anything, the Joseph Schulte container ship did not violate the maritime borders of Russia, but proceeded through the territorial waters of Romania and Bulgaria, and further on to the shores of Turkey. If the Turkish side did not interfere with the passage of the ship [through the straits], then it has no claims against [the vessel] either. Moreover, in this case, it was not carrying agricultural products," the expert said.

The expert highlighted the fact that the temporary route passes through the waters of NATO countries.

When asked whether other ships with grain could follow this route in the future, he said: "Yes, they can. And if these are not military vessels, then Turkey has no grounds for not allowing them to enter the straits [Bosporus and Dardanelles] under the Montreux Convention."

The expert did not rule out that the case with the container ship could become a reason for intensifying diplomatic contacts between Moscow and Ankara.

The Hong Kong-flagged cargo ship Joseph Schulte is carrying 2,114 containers, according to the Turkish Ministry of Transport. After refueling at the Istanbul port authority in the Sea of Marmara, the ship headed for the Greek port of Piraeus, from where it will proceed on to China. Earlier it was reported that the Joseph Schulte had passed through the northern alignment of the Bosporus on Friday morning, accompanied by coast guard tugboats. On August 16, the container ship left Odessa, where it had been stuck at dock since the start of the special military operation.

About 'temporary corridors'

On August 10, the Ukrainian navy announced "temporary corridors" in the Black Sea for merchant ships going to or from the ports of Chernomorsk, Odessa and Yuzhny. However, Kiev warned that a military threat and mine danger remained on the route and, therefore, only those ships whose owners and captains "officially confirm their readiness to sail in these conditions" are being allowed to pass.

There were reports that the routes would be used primarily to enable civilian ships stuck at dock in these Ukrainian ports since late February 2022 to depart.