The first grain exports from Ukraine’s blockaded ports could still leave on Friday despite Russian missile attacks on Odesa earlier this week, according to the United Nations’ aid chief.
Martin Griffiths said ships loaded with grain were ready to move as officials from the UN, Turkey, Russia and Ukraine thrashed out final details to ensure their safe passage.
The first ships are due to leave Chernomorsk followed by further shipments from the ports of Odesa and Yuzhne to counter rising food prices and shortages.
Speaking on UN TV, Griffiths did not say how large the loaded vessels were but said he wanted the exports to move to pre-war levels of 5m tonnes a month as “quickly as possible”. He said Somalia and the wider Horn of Africa were among the likely first destinations to tackle global hunger.
“We are hopeful… for the first ship movements to take place within days, hopefully tomorrow, out of those ports,” he said.
“There are vessels in those ports with grain on board ready to move. They will be the first to move and then we will start having ships going in, inspected, and going in.”
A joint coordination centre (JCC) opened this week in Istanbul to coordinate the shipments.
Encouraging talks
The UN’s JCC representative is Fred Kenney, the head of legal at the International Maritime Organisation. He held extensive talks with the insurance sector on Wednesday to ensure bulkers would be covered and that shipments remained commercially viable.
“I’m told that it was a very encouraging set of conversations,” Griffiths said.
The deal to ship the grain was signed on Friday but the process has been thrown into doubt by two separate Russian missile attacks on the Odesa region. The first was within 24 hours of the agreement being signed.
Russia insisted that it remained committed to the scheme and said the deal did not preclude attacks on nearby targets.
The agreement included a ceasefire arrangement that will allow ships to load and leave along safe corridors through the mined waters of the Black Sea.
De-mining operation
Griffiths said experts told him it would take up to four months to de-mine the approaches to the port.
“That was a non-starter – we were under the gun in terms of timing,” he said.
Ships will be inspected going into the three ports to ensure they are not loaded with weapons or contraband.
Turkish and UN officials will then monitor the loadings to ensure that only grain goes on to the ships to help alleviate a global grain crisis.
Maritime security specialist Dryad Global has warned that shipping will also face persistent threats for the duration of the 120-day agreement.
Dryad said Russia has a history of attacking ships in the Black Sea. Attacks could also result from a miscalculation from a weakened and ill-disciplined Russian military command and control.
