The 43,775 dwt bulk carrier, built in 1996 and flying the
Turkish flag, is carrying the last cargo in the Black Sea Grain Initiative
which expired on Sunday. The deal was brokered by the United Nations (UN) and
Turkey and signed in July 2022, enabling essential grain cargoes to be exported
by Ukraine to world markets.
Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February last
year, a large number of ships were trapped and an estimated 20 million tons
grain exports were blocked. However, after the deal was struck in July, more than
30 million tons of grain were estimated to have been exported, a lifeline for
many countries – including some of the world’s poorest nations – which rely
heavily on grain for basic foodstuffs.
The Initiative allowed grain ships to transit the Black Sea
via a corridor three nautical miles wide and 310 miles long to the Bosphorus.
Ukraine was allowed to export grain from the ports of Odessa, Chornomorsk,
and Yuzhny/Pivdeeyi.
Without
a resumption of the deal, millions of people will be hit by a food crisis. Many
face outright famine. Grain is a staple food in many African and Middle Eastern
countries where, as in most regions, people are already facing the impact of
record global food price inflation. The UN has estimated that 44 million people
in 38 countries face emergency levels of hunger.
President Putin has held off renewing the Black Sea
arrangement, which is supposed to be extended for 120 days at a time. However,
in March and May, Russia agreed only to 60-day extensions and it is the May
deal that has now ended. Putin wants Western sanctions to be eased so that the
country can resume its own exports of grain and fertilizers.
Although there are no specific sanctions on Russia’s
agricultural exports, Western sanctions effectively limit Russia’s access to
international finance, shipping capacity, and insurance, thereby limiting the
country’s exports indirectly.
