Shipments of Ukrainian grain go into high gear with 2nd caravan of ships inspected

Efforts to bring Ukrainian grain to international markets via the Black Sea have gone into a higher gear as the inspections of the second caravan of ships off Istanbul were concluded on Sunday.

A team of representatives of the Joint Coordination Center (JCC) inspected the three newly arrived ships carrying a total of 58,000 tons of grain.

The Malta-flagged vessel Rojen passed through the Bosphorus Strait for Britain on Sunday after it had received the clearance to go. The passages of the Turkish-flagged Polarnet to a Türkiye's north-western port and the Panama-flagged Navistar to Ireland are expected to be held later.

Also on Sunday, four more ships were given the authorization to leave the Ukrainian ports of Chornomorsk and Odesa, announced the JCC, the organization responsible for the whole shipment process.

The vessel named Star Helena is heading to China, Mustafa Necati is sailing to Italy, while Glory and Riva Wind are on the way to Türkiye. The inspections of these vessels will be performed by JCC upon their arrival at the Black Sea entrance of the Bosphorus Strait.

With over 26,000 tons of load, the first grain-laden ship Razoni passed through Istanbul's Bosphorus Strait on Aug. 3 for Lebanon, marking the first export of Ukrainian grain to international markets after Türkiye, Russia, and Ukraine signed a landmark U.N.-backed deal on July 22.

Ukraine still has some 20 million tons of grain in silos waiting for shipment, according to Turkish state-run Anadolu agency.

In order to make room for the new harvests and avoid the possibility of grain rotting, the sides have been working to increase the transfer volume to greater levels.

Experts are hoping that the soaring food inflation around the globe might lose some of its momenta if the shipments continue successfully.