1,900 ships transported grain via Black Sea with no significant incidents, says UN coordinator

By Peter Kenny

GENEVA (AA) – The UN coordinator for the Black Sea Grain Initiative said on Thursday that his team inspected over 1,900 ships transporting 30.5 million tons of grain with no significant incidents or casualties.

Kuwait's Abdullah Abdul Samad Dashti met with World Trade Organization (WTO) Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala at an event in Geneva to discuss the latest developments in the Black Sea Grain Deal.

Türkiye, the UN, Russia, and Ukraine initially signed the agreement in Istanbul last July to resume grain exports from three Ukrainian Black Sea ports, which were halted after the Russia-Ukraine war began in February 2022.

A Joint Coordination Center with officials from the three countries and the UN was set up in Istanbul to oversee the shipments.

"We inspected over 1,900 ships without any major incidents or casualties," Dashti said.

"You are talking about the inspection team working seven days a week for this number - 1,900. That's not an easy job," he remarked.

On July 17, the grain contract was renewed for another two months.

In its first two terms, he said the initiative facilitated the transportation of approximately 30.5 million tons of grain and food products from Russia and Ukraine to 45 countries, bringing down global food prices and stabilizing markets.

- Many challenges

Dashti, who previously served as an admiral in the Kuwait Naval Force, said his team has to consider numerous challenges because "we, as the UN, and, of course, not to forget the host nation, care and are working hard just to minimize misunderstanding."

"Actually, the war intensity does affect us. Sometimes it's dangerous in the maritime," he said.

The grain deal aims to enable the resumption of grain, foodstuffs, and fertilizer, including ammonia, exports from Ukraine through a safe maritime humanitarian corridor on the Black Sea, which Russia had blockaded immediately after the attack on Feb. 24 last year.

WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iwealae, for his part, said multiple crises, including the COVID-19 pandemic, compounded by the conflict in the Black Sea region and the war in Ukraine, have "resulted in a situation in which we have a food crisis and an energy crisis."

"I think seeing the high price of food and the issue of accessibility to grains and fertilizer, many of our members have put the kind of spotlight on this issue that we've not had before," said the WTO chief.

She explained that agricultural negotiations have been ongoing for decades and that "we are yet to make some breakthroughs" for developing-country members, particularly the least developed countries.

"With respect to making food availability, we are in a better place than we would have been," said Okonjo-Iwealae.