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Second ship to leave Ukraine after end of grain deal passes Bosporus Strait

The first vessel to leave Odessa through the temporary corridor as announced by Kiev was the Hong Kong-flagged container ship Joseph Schulte, which departed on August 16

ISTANBUL, August 29. /TASS/. The Liberian-flagged ship Primus, the second ship to leave Ukraine after the end of the Black Sea grain deal, has passed the Bosporus Strait, A-Haber television reported.

The ship is not carrying agricultural products, the television channel noted, citing Turkish officials. It had been stranded in the port of Odessa since February 20, 2022 and has now sailed through the so-called temporary corridor across the territorial waters of Romania and Bulgaria.

The first vessel to leave Odessa through the temporary corridor as announced by Kiev was the Hong Kong-flagged container ship Joseph Schulte, which departed on August 16.

On August 10, the Ukrainian Navy announced the opening of temporary corridors in the Black Sea for merchant vessels sailing to or from the ports of Chernomorsk, Odessa and Yuzhny. Kiev warned that the risk of military attack and collision with mines persisted on the route, so passage would be granted only to vessels whose owners and captains officially confirm their readiness to sail in such conditions. It was stated that the pathways would be primarily used to allow exit to the civilian vessels that had been stranded in these Ukrainian ports since the end of February 2022.

On July 17, Russia pulled out of the grain deal that was brokered a year earlier and provided for safe exports of Ukrainian grain across the Black Sea and sought to establish conditions for the export of Russian grain and fertilizers. Russia made the move as other countries hadn’t met their commitments relating to supplies of Russian products to the world market.

The Russian Defense Ministry said afterward that Moscow, following the termination of the grain and starting at midnight on July 20, would regard all ships that sail to Ukrainian ports across the Black Sea as carriers of military cargo, and the flag states of such vessels would be regarded as participants in the Ukrainian conflict on the side of Kiev. Besides, the ministry declared some international waters in the northwestern and southeastern parts the Black Sea to be temporarily dangerous for navigation.