First ship carrying Ukraine wheat under U.N. deal docks in Turkey

Reuters

Published Aug 14, 2022 11:01AM ET

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - The first ship carrying Ukrainian wheat to be exported under a U.N.-brokered deal arrived in Istanbul on Sunday, the Joint Coordination Centre based in the Turkish city, said.

The Belize-flagged vessel is the first to carry wheat from Ukraine through the Black Sea since Russia's invasion. The Sormovsky was loaded with 3,050 mt of wheat and had left Ukraine's port of Chornomorsk on Friday.

Reuters footage showed the ship crossing the Bosphorus Strait and docking there, awaiting inspection.

It was the first shipment of wheat from Ukraine, which, along with Russia, accounted for nearly a third of global wheat exports before Feb. 24, when Moscow launched what it describes as a "special operation" to demilitarise its neighbour.