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The scheduled arrival of the first grain ship to leave Ukraine and cross the Black Sea has been delayed under wartime agreements, Lebanese cabinet ministers and the Ukrainian embassy said.
The reason for the delay was unclear, but the Maritime Traffic Service, which monitors the position of ships at sea, showed the Sierra Leone-flagged Lazoni berthed in the Mediterranean Sea off Turkey.
Lebanese Transport Minister Ali Hamie tweeted that “according to rumors, the ship was supposed to arrive at the Lebanese port of Tripoli” and its status changed.
The vessel left Odessa with Ukrainian corn on Monday before passing inspections in Turkey. It was due to arrive at the northern port of Tripoli at around 10 am on Sunday.
The vessel changed its status to “order” on Saturday, meaning it was waiting for someone to buy corn, according to Marine Traffic.
The Ukrainian embassy in Beirut said the ship’s arrival had been delayed, adding that “an update on the ceremony will be sent later when we have information on the exact date and time of the ship’s arrival”.
The shipment comes at a time when the small Mediterranean country is suffering from a food security crisis, soaring inflation, shortages of wheat and low bread supplies. The ship was carrying 26,000 tons of corn for chicken feed.
The passage of the vessel is the first of ground-breaking deals that Turkey and the United Nations have struck with Russia and Ukraine. As Russia’s war against its neighbor continues, the four sides signed an agreement last month to create a secure Black Sea shipping corridor to export Ukraine’s much-needed agricultural products.
The worst economic crisis in Lebanon’s modern history began in late 2019, leaving three-quarters of the population living in poverty, while the Lebanese pound lost more than 90 percent of its value.
A massive explosion in August 2020 devastated Beirut’s port and major grain silos at the country’s sprawling facility, compounding an economic collapse rooted in decades of corruption and mismanagement.
Lebanon officials said last week that the Lazoni was due to leave Ukraine for Lebanon on February 24, but the departure was delayed due to war that erupted a few days later.
Three more ships carrying thousands of tons of corn left Ukrainian ports on Friday to travel through mines to inspect their delayed shipments, in a sign of slow progress on international grain export deals since Russia invaded Ukraine.
Four other ships carrying agricultural cargo stranded by the Ukrainian war were allowed to leave the Black Sea coast on Sunday and are expected to leave Chernomorsk and Odessa on Monday.
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