The Resilient Africa vessel with 3,000 tons of wheat has left the port of Chornomorsk and is heading towards the Bosporus.
This was reported by the Minister of Communities, Territories and Infrastructure of Ukraine Oleksandr Kubrakov.
"This is the first of two vessels that entered the port of Chornomorsk last week through a temporary corridor for civilian vessels established by the Ukrainian Navy. The second vessel is in the port
loaded with Ukrainian wheat for Egypt," Kubrakov said.
He noted that the vessels are flying the flags of Liberia and Palau, and their crew consists of citizens of Turkey, Azerbaijan, Egypt and Ukraine.
Reuters reports that a grain cargo ship has left Ukraine's Black Sea port of Chornomorsk for the first time since the grain deal collapsed. In this way, Ukraine is testing its ability to unblock its seaports for grain exports.
It is noted that last month Ukraine announced a "humanitarian corridor" in the Black Sea to free ships stuck in its ports after Russia's invasion of the country in February 2022 and to circumvent the de facto blockade after Russia backed out of a deal to allow Kyiv to export grain.
The bulk carriers Resilient Africa and Aroyat arrived in Ukraine on Saturday and were to depart after loading nearly 20,000 metric tons of wheat for Africa and Asia.
Moscow has launched numerous drone and missile strikes on Ukraine's grain export infrastructure.
Odesa's three seaports, including Chornomorsk, shipped tens of millions of tons of grain during Russia's invasion under a UN-brokered deal that has been suspended since Moscow withdrew.
Five of the several ships stuck in Odesa have already left the port, using a temporary corridor that spans the western Black Sea coast near Romania and Bulgaria.
The Black Sea Grain Agreement was brokered by the UN and Turkey in July 2022 to combat the global food crisis, which was exacerbated by Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Ukraine and Russia are among the world's leading grain exporters.