ANKARA 

More than 305,000 tons of grain were safely shipped from Ukrainian ports through 10 commercial vessels in one week as part of a recent grain export deal signed between Türkiye, the UN, Russia, and Ukraine.

Under the Türkiye-brokered deal, four ships carrying a total of 170,458 tons of corn are planned to reach Turkish ports. Polarnet vessel with 12,000 tons of corn set sail for the port of Derince in Türkiye's northwestern province of Kocaeli.

The destinations of the other six ships are Italy, China, Ireland, England, and Lebanon.

In line with the grain corridor deal, the Sierra Leone-flagged dry cargo ship Razoni, carrying 27,000 tons of corn to Lebanon, became the first ship to leave Ukraine's Odesa port on Aug. 1.

The Panama-flagged Navi-Star ship carrying 33,000 tons of corn from Ukraine to Ireland and the Maltese-flagged Rojen carrying 13,000 tons of corn to the UK set sail on Aug. 5.

The Barbados-flagged Fulmar S, which left the Bandirma port on Aug. 5, arrived at the Chornomorsk port in the Odesa region of Ukraine on Aug. 7. Fulmar S became the first ship to arrive in Ukrainian ports to receive cargo.

The empty Liberian-flagged ship Osprey S also left for Chornomorsk port to collect grain after the inspections in Istanbul on Sunday.

Under the deal, the Mustafa Necati ship with 6,000 tons of sunflower oil to Italy, the Star Helena ship with 45,000 tons of sunflower meal to China, and the Glory ship with 66,000 tons of corn to Istanbul set sail from the Chornomorsk port.

On Aug. 7, the Riva Wind ship carrying 44,000 tons of corn to Iskenderun, Türkiye, set off from the Odesa port.

The Sacura ship carrying 11,000 tons of soy to Italy left the port of Yuzhne, and the ship, named Arizona, carrying 48,458 tons of corn to Iskenderun left the Port of Chornomorsk today.

In total, 10 commercial ships carrying 305,458 tons of grain have safely set off from Ukrainian ports as part of a solution to the global food crisis.

On July 22, Türkiye, the UN, Russia, and Ukraine signed a deal in Istanbul to reopen three Ukrainian ports for the export of Ukraine grain, which had been stuck for months due to the Russia-Ukraine war, now in its sixth month.

To oversee Ukrainian grain exports, the Joint Coordination Center in Istanbul was officially launched on July 27, comprising representatives from the three countries and the UN to enable safe transportation by merchant ships of commercial foodstuffs and fertilizers.

*Writing by Gozde Bayar