The vessel Resilient Africa with 3,000 tonnes of wheat left today the Ukrainian port of Chornomorsk in the Black Sea and is moving in the direction of the Bosphorus, Ukrainian vice prime minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said. 

The vessel is one of the two ships that had arrived in Chornomorsk, two months after Moscow pulled out of the UN- and Turkey-brokered agreement, known as the Black Sea Grain Initiative.

“This is the one of two vessels that entered the port of Chornomorsk last week through a temporary corridor for civilian vessels established by the Ukrainian Navy,” Kubrakov wrote on X (former twitter).

Kubrakov posted on social media platform X, a photograph showing the ship Resilient Africa. Shipping Telegraph could not immediately verify the date or location of the photo.

The Ukrainian politician added that the second ship was in the port of Chornomorsk loading Ukrainian wheat for Egypt.

In another post in facebook the Ukrainian vice president said that the crew of the two vessels comes from Türkiye, Azerbaijan, Egypt, and Ukraine.

Resilient Africa and the other ship are the first to test the route both ways, docking in Ukraine, loading up on grain and leaving again via the Bosphorus.

Russia did not immediately react to the ship’s departure.

According to Marine Traffic, an online tracking site, the vessel Resilient Africa is a General Cargo type, built in 2001 and sailing under the flag of Palau, while its carrying capacity is 3,276 deadweight tonnes.

The ship’s current draught is reported to be 5.7 meters, her length overall is 76.01 meters and her width is 13.6 meters.

Yesterday, VesselsValue said that two vessels, Aroyat (a Handy Bulker) and Resilient Africa (a General Cargo vessel) were likely loading grains at the Ukrainian port of Chornomorsk near Odessa.

According to officials, this is the first time that civilian ships have been able to safely reach a Ukrainian port since the collapse of the UN-backed trading agreement with Russia which allowed for grain exports from Ukraine.