Black Sea Initiative Joint Coordination Center Announces New Grain Export Route

The Joint Coordination Center in Istanbul announced on Thursday that a new route to export grain under the Black Sea Initiative has been established from three Ukrainian ports. A new route for commercial ships entering and leaving the three Ukrainian ports of Odesa, Chornomorsk, and Pivdennyi/Yuzhny has been announced by the Joint Coordination Center (JCC) today.

The new route connects the three Ukrainian ports with the inspection points inside Turkish territorial waters, and it is 320 nautical miles long, according to the statement. Notably, the statement added, the new route is anticipated to be more effective for the vessels to export the grain and will go into effect on August 26.

A "beacon of hope" for millions of starving people around the world, the grain agreement between Russia and Ukraine, the United Nations, and Turkey paved the way for the export of 22 million Ukrainian grains that were stuck in three Black Sea Ports.

The news that these desperately needed quantities of grain will reach the market and grain prices may once again become reasonable brought a sigh of relief to millions of people in the world's poorer nations who face an immediate danger of starvation.

Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, ports in the Black Sea were effectively blocked by Moscow, and Ukraine mined the area to ward off Russian attacks. Since Ukraine is a major exporter of grain, prices of this necessary good increased, making it unaffordable for millions of underprivileged people who were facing severe hunger. The ports used to export Ukrainian grain were closed to commercial shipping.

The blockade has driven up grain prices because Russia and Ukraine are two of the biggest grain exporters in the world. Due to the blockade, Ukraine was unable to export its grains and other agricultural products, and international shippers and insurers were hesitant to enter into agreements with Russians for fear of violating US and EU sanctions.

An agreement was reached that port infrastructure and vessels would be protected from hostilities after more than two months of diplomatic efforts by the UN and Turkey. The "breadbasket of Europe" is known as Ukraine, which produces 10% of the world's wheat, 12%–17% of its maize, and 50% of its sunflower oil. The combined annual consumption of all the least developed nations is 25 million tonnes of corn and wheat.

On February 24, Russia began a "special military operation" in Ukraine, which the West has referred to as an unprovoked war. The Western nations have also imposed a number of crippling sanctions on Moscow as a result of this.