ANKARA

The first grain-laden ship that departed the Ukrainian port of Odesa for Lebanon under a deal to unblock Ukraine's agricultural exports reached the Black Sea entrance of Istanbul Strait on Tuesday. 

Sierra Leone-flagged cargo ship Razoni, loaded with corn, departed from the Ukrainian port of Odesa on Monday and reached "the entrance of the Istanbul Strait from the Black Sea and anchored at the assigned location," the Turkish National Defense Ministry said on Twitter.

The joint inspection of the ship, which set out on Monday with over 26,500 tons of corn, will begin on Wednesday morning, according to the Turkish National Defense Ministry.

Following inspections in Istanbul, the Sierra Leone-flagged cargo ship Razoni will continue to sail for the port of Tripoli.

Türkiye, the UN, Russia, and Ukraine signed a historic deal on July 22 to reopen three Ukrainian ports – Odesa, Chernomorsk, and Yuzhny – for grain that has been stuck for months due the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, which is now in its sixth month.

To oversee Ukrainian grain exports, a joint coordination center in Istanbul was officially launched on Wednesday, comprising representatives from Türkiye, the UN, Russia, and Ukraine to enable the safe transportation by merchant ships of commercial foodstuffs and fertilizers from the three key Ukrainian Black Sea ports.