Two more ships left Ukraine’s Black Sea ports on Friday, including one laden with the first Ukrainian wheat to be exported under a Türkiye and United Nations-brokered deal, a statement said.

A total of 14 ships have now departed from Ukraine in the past two weeks, following the deal with Russia to allow the resumption of grain exports from Ukraine’s Black Sea ports, after they were stalled since late February due to the war.

Closing in on the half-year mark, the war has sent food prices sky-high and left poorer countries with ever less hope they would be getting supplies from the breadbasket of Europe.

Separately, expectations were raised Friday that the first U.N. grain transport ship could soon be leaving Ukraine for Africa.

The grain agreement, brokered by the United Nations and Türkiye, was reached last month amid fears that the loss of Ukrainian grain supplies would lead to severe food shortages and even outbreaks of famine in parts of the world.

The Belize-flagged Sormovsky left Ukraine’s Chernomorsk port on Friday, Türkiye’s Defense Ministry said, carrying 3,050 tons of wheat to Türkiye’s northwestern Tekirdağ province.

It was the first shipment of wheat from Ukraine, which, along with Russia, accounted for nearly a third of global wheat exports before Feb. 24, when Moscow launched what it describes as a "special operation" to demilitarize its neighbor.

Ukraine has some 20 million tons of grain left over from last year’s crop, while this year’s wheat harvest is also estimated at 20 million tons.

The Marshall Islands-flagged Star Laura also departed from the port of Pivdennyi, bound for Iran with 60,000 tons of corn aboard.

While Ukrainian and Western officials have repeatedly spoken of the crucial role of grain shipments from Ukraine’s Black Sea ports in staving off a global food crisis, many of the first dozen vessels to leave the ports were bound for destinations in Türkiye and Western Europe.

Some analysts attributed this to the need to free up scarce docking space, saying the ships that have been trapped in the ports the longest were likely to be prioritized. So far most of the cargoes under the deal have carried grain for animal feed or for fuel.

First Africa-bound shipment

The shipments to countries most at risk from the global food crisis are yet to be made, although, on Friday, European Council President Charles Michel announced that the first World Food Programme (WFP) transport for Africa was poised to depart.

He said the ship would load in a Ukrainian port and depart for Ethiopia, saying "cooperation of all involved actors is key" to avoid food shortage and hunger around the world.

Ukraine on Thursday said a ship is due to come into port that is scheduled to take grain to Ethiopia.

The ship, Brave Commander, would take more than 23,000 metric tons (27,500 short tons) of grain and export it to Ethiopia through Djibouti.

Ethiopia, along with neighboring Somalia and Kenya, is in the grip of the driest drought in four decades in the Horn of Africa. Thousands of people across the region have died from hunger or illness this year. Forecasts for the coming weeks indicate that for the first time, a fifth straight rainy season will fail to materialize. Millions of livestock, the basis of many families’ wealth and food security, have died.

It makes any resumption of food shipments all the more welcome.

As part of the U.N. deal, all ships are inspected in Istanbul by the Joint Coordination Centre (JCC), where Russia, Ukrainian, Turkish and U.N. personnel work.

The Razoni, the first ship to depart Ukraine under the deal, docked in Türkiye on Thursday and was headed to Egypt on Friday, Refinitiv ship tracker data showed, after its initial buyer in Lebanon refused delivery due a delay of five months.

Shipping agent Toros, which managed the Razoni’s offloading in Türkiye, said on Thursday that the ship would drop off 1,500 tons of its 26,527-ton load of corn in southern Türkiye’s Mersin and the rest of it would go to Egypt.

The Rahmi Yağcı, which left Ukraine on Tuesday for Istanbul, was anchored on the northern end of Istanbul’s Bosporus Strait on Friday, while the Mustafa Necati, which left for Italy on Sunday, was anchored on the southern end.

Four other vessels were approved for travel to Ukraine after being inspected by a JCC team in Istanbul. Türkiye’s Defense Ministry said on Thursday that the ships that arrived in Ukraine were being loaded.

It was not immediately clear when they would leave. The U.N. has said the number of inbound ships was expected to grow as grain sales are agreed.