Brave Commander, Africa’s first United Nations-chartered grain vessel, departed Pivdevni Port at Ukrainianaccording to today’s data from Refinitiv Eikon.

Export of grain from Ukraine stopped after invasion of Russia in the country and the closure of Black Sea ports, rising world food prices and concerns about possible shortages in Africa and the Middle East.

At the end of July, an agreement was reached through the mediation of the UN and Turkey, which will allow Ukraine to resume grain exports through the Black Sea ports, despite the war with Russia.

The “brave commander”, carrying 23 thousand tons of grain, went to the port of Djibouti, and the cargo is sent to Ethiopia, the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine reported.

“The ministry and the UN are working to find ways to increase food supplies for the socially sensitive population in Africa,” he said in a statement.

To date, 17 ships have left Ukrainian ports with more than 475,000 tons of agricultural products.

Earlier, a joint coordination center established by Russia, Ukraine and Turkey in cooperation with the UN and headquartered in Istanbul announced that it had approved the departure of Brave Commander.

Ships and their cargoes are checked before passing through the Bosphorus.

For its part, the Turkish Ministry of Defense reported today that five ships with grain and corn left Ukrainian ports, three from the port of Khornomorsk and two from Yuzhny.

The ministry added that four more ships bound for Ukraine will be inspected by the joint coordination center today.

^{Source: APE-MEB, Reuters}