UN Secretary-General António Guterres welcomed the departure of the first ship since February 26 with tons of grain from the Ukrainian port of Odessa.

In a statement, Guterres expressed his hope that “this will be the first of many merchant ships to move under the signed initiative, and that it will bring much-needed stability and relief to global food security, especially in the most fragile humanitarian contexts.”

The Secretary-General stressed that “ensure that available grain and food is transferred to world markets is a humanitarian obligation.” He considered that “the first departure is the collective merit of the Joint Coordinating Center (JCC), which was established in Istanbul under the auspices of the UN and consists of representatives of Ukraine, Russia and Turkey.” “Since then, the parties, with the assistance of the UN, have been working tirelessly to implement the agreements reached under this initiative,” he explained.

This is the first ship to sail under the Black Sea Grain Initiative signed in Istanbul on July 22.

Earlier yesterday, a merchant ship (m/v Razoni) from the Ukrainian port of Odessa left for the port of Tripoli in Lebanon with 26,527 tons of corn.