The container ship left the Black Sea port of Odesa on Wednesday morning, the Ukrainian government said, adding that it was using a new temporary corridor to and from its ports.

The port of Odesa in Ukraine, a key area of ​​the Black Sea Grain Agreement, was attacked by Russia immediately after the end of the agreementPhoto: Yuliy Zozulya / Zuma Press / Profimedia Images
  • UPDATE 10:57 AM The ship Joseph Schulte has left the port of Odesa and is heading to Istanbul, Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement (BSM) reported on Tuesday. The vessel, jointly owned by a Chinese bank and Bernhard Schulte, uses an established corridor and passes through the territorial waters of Ukraine, Romania and Turkey “to ensure the safe passage of southbound vessels,” BSM said in a statement.

Last week, Ukraine announced a “humanitarian corridor” in the Black Sea to free cargo ships stuck in its ports after Russia’s invasion began on February 24, 2022.

Moscow has not said whether it will respect the shipping corridor, and shipping and insurance sources have expressed concern about their safety.

“The first vessel used the temporary corridor for commercial vessels to/from the ports of Greater Odessa,” Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov wrote on Facebook.

He identified the container ship as the Hong Kong-flagged JOSEPH SCHULTE and said it had been in port since February 23, 2022, the day before the invasion began.

According to him, the ship carries more than 30,000 tons of cargo in 2,114 containers.

“The corridor will be used mainly for the evacuation of ships that were in Ukrainian ports (Chornomorsk, Odesa and Pivdenny) at the time of the invasion,” the vice-prime minister added.

Last week, Ukraine began registering vessels that want to use the new corridor, a local news agency reported on Saturday. The corridor is a new test of Russia’s de facto blockade after Moscow reneged on an agreement last month that allowed Kyiv to export grain.