One of the ships is carrying corn to South Korea, while the other is carrying bulk sunflower meal to Istanbul, says the Turkish Defence Ministry.

Türkiye's National Defence Ministry has said that two more ships carrying over 70,000 tonnes of grain have left Ukraine.

The Liberian-flagged Ocean Lion, carrying 64,720 tonnes of corn to South Korea, set sail on Tuesday from Chornomorsk under a historic Türkiye-brokered deal to unblock Ukrainian grain exports.

The second ship, Turkish-flagged Rahmi Yagci, which is carrying 5,300 tonnes of bulk sunflower meal to Istanbul, too left Chornomorsk, the ministry said in a statement.

It added that four ships anchored off Istanbul's Ahirkapi port on Monday night will also be inspected in the coming hours.

On July 22, Türkiye, the United Nations, Russia and Ukraine signed the landmark deal to reopen three Ukrainian ports — Odessa, Chornomorsk and Yuzhny — for the export of grain that has been stuck for months due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, which is now into its sixth month.

A team from the Joint Coordination Centre in Istanbul, comprising representatives from all four sides, inspects each ship before it departs for its destination.

Source: agencies