First grain ship to use Ukraine’s Black Sea corridor arrives in Istanbul – Reuters

The first civilian cargo vessel that used Ukraine's Black Sea corridor is crossing through Turkey's Bosphorus Strait, despite Russia's sabotage, a Reuters witness said on Friday.

The Hong-Kong-flagged Joseph Schulte container ship that left the Russian-blocked Ukrainian Black Sea port of Odesa earlier this week had been in the port the day before the start of Russia's full-scale war.

Local broadcasters reported that the ship would anchor in the port of Ambarli in southern Istanbul.

Ukraine last week announced a "humanitarian corridor" in the Black Sea to release cargo ships that have been trapped in its ports after the termination of the main grain exports deal last month.

Moscow has not indicated whether it would respect the shipping corridor, and shipping and insurance sources have expressed concerns about safety.

On August 16, the container ship left Odesa port, becoming the first civilian vessel to use the temporary transportation corridor opened after Russia's withdrawal from the grain deal.

The company thanked all parties involved for making the safe passage of the cargo ship possible. According to Ukrainian sources, it is carrying more than 2,100 containers with about 30,000 tons of cargo.

German analysts believe that Russia did not attempt to attack the vessel, not least because it belongs to Germany, which could receive a sharp response and stimulate new decisions to supply Ukraine with additional weapons.

The corridor will primarily be used to evacuate ships that were in the Ukrainian ports of Chornomorsk, Odesa, and Pivdennyi at the time of Russia's full-scale war. Ukraine suggested this route in its appeal to the International Maritime Organization.