Explainer-in-brief: Breaking the Odessa deadlock
Yesterday the first container ship filled with grain left Ukraine after months of impasse. It was a huge breakthrough, enabled by a deal brokered by Turkey and the United Nations. The cargo ship was loaded with 26,000 tonnes of corn.
It left Odessa, a Black Sea port that’s been blocked since the beginning of the war. Ukraine accounts for 10 per cent of global wheat supply and an estimated 22 million tonnes of grain were trapped in the country, fuelling a global food crisis.
Now ships will be able to leave – but the whole process will be dangerous, as the Black Sea hasn’t been de-mined. Lloyd’s of London, together with Ascot and Marsh, will provide insurance to the ships for up to $50m each.
Sixteen more ships are waiting to leave from the port, according to the Ukrainian infrastructure ministry. They’ll stop in a control centre in Istanbul, and then reach their respective destinations. The deal will hold for 120 days, and it will be automatically resumed afterwards.