First cargo ship passes Russia’s Black Sea blockade under grain deal

A ship loaded with corn on Monday became the first cargo vessel to sail from Ukraine in more than five months of war, passing through Russia’s naval blockade of Ukraine’s Black Sea ports and raising hopes that desperately needed food will soon reach nations afflicted by shortages and soaring prices.

The ship’s journey was the culmination of months of negotiations and an international campaign to get grain out of Ukraine, one of the world’s breadbaskets before the war. Russia’s invasion and blockade, along with Western sanctions impeding Russian exports and factors like drought and climate change, have sharply cut global grain supplies, threatening to bring famine to tens of millions of people, particularly in the Middle East and Africa.

Mediators from the United Nations and Turkey, which shares the Black Sea coast with Russia and Ukraine, oversaw months of talks in Istanbul. Although discussions seemed hopelessly mired for weeks, in late July the parties struck a deal to free more than 20 million tons of grain.

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The agreement could easily unravel: the ship, the Razoni, is traveling through a war zone, at risk of an attack or accident, and a breach of trust or disagreement among inspectors and officials running the multinational operation could once again freeze ships in ports.

But if the voyage that began Monday does go smoothly, it could be an important step toward alleviating shortages and lowering prices, although it cannot alone resolve the causes of a looming global hunger crisis.

With such high stakes and intense Western and Ukrainian distrust that Russia would really let cargo leave port, the ship’s departure from Odesa was closely watched -Monday.

Crewed mostly by Syrian seaman, the Razoni was led out of the port by a tugboat. Carrying 26,000 tonnes of corn, the vessel and tug first navigated sea mines, placed by Ukraine to forestall any amphibious assault by Russia, and then passed by the Russian navy vessels that largely control the Black Sea and granted safe passage.

The ship was set to stop in Turkish waters for inspection by a joint team from Turkey, the UN, Ukraine and Russia on Tuesday before continuing on to the Lebanese port of Tripoli. But as the Razoni’s Black Sea crossing raised hopes for some degree of cooperation between the combatants, the fighting intensified on multiple fronts in Ukraine.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.