On Wednesday, Ukraine said the first cargo ship to utilize new Black Sea shipping lanes had left a southern port despite threats from Moscow that its navy could target ships exiting the nation.
Kyiv announced the maritime corridors for civilian ships last week after Moscow left a deal permitting secure sea passage for grain exports and threatened cargo ships in the Black Sea.
Oleksandr Kubrakov, Ukraine’s Infrastructure Minister said in a statement that the first ship is driving along the temporary corridors specified for civilian ships to and from Black Sea ports.
It called the ship the Joseph Schulte, the Hong Kong-flagged, and said it had exited the Odesa’s port, one of three transit hubs that partook in the grain deal.
Kubrakov added in the statement that Kyiv suggested this route in its plea to the International Maritime Organization (IMO). The corridor will be used to depart vessels that were in Ukraine’s ports of Chornomorsk, Odesa, and Pivdenny at the time of attack by the Russian Federation, he added.
