For the second time, a Ukrainian wheat cargo ship used the maritime corridor set up by kyiv to avoid the blockade led by Russia. He arrived this Sunday, September 24, in Istanbul via the Black Sea, despite renewed threats by Moscow to attack boats entering and leaving Ukraine.
The Aroyat, a bulk carrier flying the flag of Palau, left on Friday from Chornomorsk, near Odessa. According to the Marine Traffic and Vessel Finder sites, the cargo ship, which is carrying 17,600 tonnes of Ukrainian wheat to Egypt, was at 3 a.m. GMT on Sunday at the southern exit of the Bosphorus, in the Sea of Marmara.
It was to head towards the Dardanelles Strait to reach the Mediterranean. Moscow withdrew in July from an international agreement signed in July 2022, securing the export of Ukrainian agricultural products via the Black Sea.
This agreement made it possible to export nearly 33 million tonnes of cereals in one year. A first ship loaded with 3,000 tonnes of wheat and also flying the Palau flag left the same port of Chornomorsk without incident on Tuesday and arrived in Istanbul on Thursday.
Kiev wants to establish supply routes to Africa in order to counter the influence of Russia, which this summer promised certain African states to deliver wheat to them for free. Russia and Ukraine are two major agricultural powers whose production is crucial for global food security. Russia's invasion of its neighbor and international sanctions against Moscow have destabilized global supplies and markets.
The Ukrainian armed forces have also been working for several weeks to counter Russia's military control in the Black Sea. Kiev thus claimed on Saturday to have killed or injured several “senior commanders” of the Russian navy during a strike on Friday against the headquarters of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol, in annexed Crimea.
