The contract for the sale of the first shipment of grain exported from Ukraine since the beginning of the Russian invasion has been canceled due to the delay in shipments, the Embassy of Ukraine in Lebanon said.
The Razoni, a Sierra Leonean-flagged freighter, left Ukraine’s Black Sea port of Odessa on August 1 with 26,000 tons of corn and was due to dock at the port of Tripoli in Lebanon on Sunday.
However, the five-month delivery period “causing the buyer and shipper to agree on the cancellation of the order,” the Ukrainian embassy said in a press release published shortly before midnight on Tuesday evening.
According to her, the sender is studying “other purchase requests”.
The Razoni, which is currently docked in Mersin in southern Turkey, was inspected by Turkish and Russian experts off Istanbul last week, according to the Marine Traffic Tracking Site.
Russia and Ukraine signed two separate agreements on July 22, validated by Turkey and the United Nations, to allow the export of Ukrainian grain blocked by the war that began February 24 and Russian agricultural products despite the allow sanctions.
According to Turkey’s Defense Ministry, three shipments of corn left Ukraine on Friday in a convoy bound for Ireland, England and Turkey.
A first ship docked at its final destination, Turkey, on Monday.
A total of eight ships have put to sea since the deal was signed, according to Ukrainian authorities, who hope to see three to five boats a day within two weeks.