The first UN ship to transport Ukrainian grain docked Friday
The United Nations announced that the first ship chartered by the international organization is supposed to transport grain from Ukraine under an agreement to ease the global food crisis, and is expected to dock in Ukraine on Friday.
The United Nations World Food Program announced that the MV Brave Commander, which left Istanbul on Wednesday, is expected to arrive in Yuzhny, east of Odessa on the Black Sea.
WFP spokesman Thomson Ferry said the ship would transport Ukrainian wheat purchased by the World Food Program.
"It is the first humanitarian shipment of food aid within the framework of the agreement to transport grain from the Black Sea," he added.
On July 22, Kyiv and Moscow signed a landmark agreement with Turkey to resume grain exports from the Black Sea after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February.
Turkey has established a special center in Istanbul at the mouth of the Black Sea to supervise export operations, staffed by civilian and military officials from the warring parties and delegates from Turkey and the United Nations.
The World Food Program has purchased 30 thousand tons of Ukrainian wheat.
The vessel has a capacity of 23,000 tons.
"The remaining quantity will be loaded and transferred onto another vessel soon," Ferry said.
"The World Food Program hopes that MV Brave Commander will be the first ship of what will become a regular shipment program to transport grain from Ukraine as part of the signed agreement," he added.
It is not yet known when the ship will leave and the World Food Program has not disclosed details about its destination.
"Loading and sailing ships to and from ports in the context of the current conflict is a complex process," Ferry said.
"The transportation of Ukrainian grain shipments within WFP humanitarian operations to places such as Ethiopia, Somalia and Yemen will ensure a double benefit both for the Ukrainian economy and for populations at risk of starvation in the countries of the world most affected by the global food crisis," he added.
Interrupted deliveries from Ukraine and Russia - two of the world's largest grain exporters - have pushed up prices and made food imports prohibitively expensive for some of the world's poorest countries.
Phiri said 345 million people in 82 countries face acute food insecurity, and up to 50 million people in 45 countries are on the brink of famine and are at great risk without humanitarian support.
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