Twelve vessels carrying more than 370,000 metric tonnes of grain and other foodstuffs have been authorised to leave Ukrainian ports, while several more grain vessels in Turkish waters await contracts.

Ukraine has exported nearly 400,000 tonnes of grain in the first week following the announcement of a deal brokered by Türkiye to address global food insecurity.

Twelve vessels carrying more than 370,000 metric tonnes of grain and other foodstuffs have been authorised to leave Ukrainian ports, the interim Coordinator for the UN at the Joint Coordination Centre, Frederick Kenney, said.

"We have seen tremendous interest from ship owners in terms of their willingness to make this transit," Kenney told reporters in New York on Wednesday.

"We're expecting to see a big uptick in applications."

Several empty grain vessels are sitting in Turkish waters waiting to arrange contracts. Once their deals are arranged, they will be transiting northbound, he added.

The vessels departing Ukrainian ports were loaded with corn and other foodstuffs and the first Ukrainian wheat shipment is expected next week.

"We actually have cleared the first ship inbound that's going to be picking up the wheat according to our records and that should occur sometime next week," said Kenney.

Türkiye, the UN, Russia and Ukraine signed a landmark deal on July 22 to reopen three Ukrainian ports — Odessa, Chornomorsk and Yuzhny — for grain that had been stuck for months because of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, now in its sixth month.

Source: agencies