Black Sea initiative Joint Coordination Center announces new route to export grain

Turkey [Istanbul], August 26 : A new route to export grain under the Black Sea Initiative has been established from three Ukrainian ports, the Joint Coordination Center in Istanbul announced in a statement on Thursday.
"The Joint Coordination Center (JCC) announced today a new route for merchant vessels going in and departing from the three Ukrainian ports of Odesa, Chornomorsk and Pivdennyi/Yuzhny under the Black Sea Grain Initiative," the statement said, reported Sputnik.
The new route is 320 nautical miles long and connects the three Ukrainian ports with the inspection areas inside Turkish territorial waters," the statement said.
Notably, the new route is expected to be more efficient for the vessels to export the grain and will come into effect from August 26, the statement added.
The grain deal signed between Russia and Ukraine with the United Nations and Turkey has paved the way for the export of 22 million Ukrainian grains which remained stuck in three Black Sea Ports, becoming a "beacon of hope" for millions of starving people across the globe.
Millions of people in the world's poorer nations that face an imminent danger of starvation breathed a sigh of relief on hearing the news that these desperately needed quantities of grain will reach the market and grain prices may become affordable once again.
In the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, there was a de facto blockade by Moscow of ports in the Black Sea, while Ukraine mined the waters to deter Russian attacks.
The ports used to export Ukrainian grain were blocked for commercial shipping and, as Ukraine is a major grain exporter, prices of this essential commodity surged, becoming unaffordable for millions of poor people facing acute hunger.
As both Ukraine and Russia are among the largest exporters of grain in the world, the blockade has caused grain prices to soar. Ukraine could not export its grain and other agricultural produce due to the blockade, while international shippers and insurers were reluctant to conclude contracts with Russians in case they run afoul of US and EU sanctions.
Following diplomatic efforts by the UN and Turkey lasting more than two months, an agreement was reached that port facilities and vessels would be safeguarded from hostilities.
Ukraine is regarded as the "breadbasket of Europe" supplying 10 per cent of the world's wheat, 12-17 per cent of the world's maize and half of the world's sunflower oil. Twenty-five million tonnes of corn and wheat - the entire annual consumption of all the least developed countries.
Russia launched a "special military operation" in Ukraine on February 24, which the West has termed an unprovoked war. As a result of this, the Western countries have also imposed several crippling sanctions on Moscow.