Over 650 voyages enabled so far under Istanbul grain deal

NEW YORK, UN. Oct 13 (Interfax) - Nine vessels carrying more than 150,000 tonnes of food departed from Ukrainian ports on Wednesday after receiving permission from the Joint Coordination Center (JCC).

"The Joint Coordination Center (JCC) reports that nine vessels left Ukrainian ports today carrying a total of 150,459 metric tonnes of grain and other food products under the Black Sea Grain Initiative," the center said.

Two vessels, the Great Arsenal (27,499 tonnes of wheat) and the Jasmin Queen (9,500 tonnes of rapeseed) are bound for Turkey. The Agnes Victory bulker is heading to India with 42,000 tonnes of sunflower oil on board. The Lugano vessel is carrying 27,100 tonnes of corn to Spain, and the Simas is carrying 13,400 tonnes of corn to Lebanon.

The KLC Erciyes bulker is heading to Egypt with 11,500 tonnes of soya beans on board, the Lucky is carrying 7,560 tonnes of corn to Italy, the Elif S is carrying 6,200 tonnes of rapeseed meal to Greece, and the Ege Bey bulker is carrying 5,700 tonnes of sunflower seeds to France.

"Grains that reach a destination may go through processing and be trans-shipped to other countries," the JCC said.

"As of 12 October, the total tonnage of grain and other foodstuffs exported from the three Ukrainian ports is 7,210,199 metric tonnes. A total of 656 voyages (331 inbound and 325 outbound) have been enabled so far," it said.