Bulk carrier M/V Razoni, carrying a cargo of 26,000 tons of corn, leaves Ukraine's port of Odessa, en route to Tripoli in Lebanon, on August 1, 2022. Photo: VCG

The first cargo ship carrying grain has left the Black Sea port of Odesa in southern Ukraine, Ukraine's Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said on Monday.

The vessel Razoni under the flag of Sierra Leone carrying 26,000 tons of corn is bound for the port of Tripoli in Lebanon, Kubrakov wrote on Facebook. He said the ship will move along a maritime corridor, the security of which was guaranteed by Turkey and the United Nations.

The resumption of Ukraine's grain exports would help prevent a global food crisis, contribute at least $1 billion to the Ukrainian economy and pave the way for the country's farmers to prepare for next year's sowing campaign, Kubrakov said.

The cargo ship will first reach Istanbul in Turkey for inspection on Tuesday, where it will be inspected by a joint monitoring center according to an agreement that Russia and Ukraine made with Turkey and the UN, the Turkish Defense Ministry said in a statement Monday.

Following Razoni, other convoys will set off from the Ukrainian port of Odesa, the Turkish Defense Ministry said.

The Black Sea Grain Initiative, signed by Russia and Ukraine with Turkey under the UN, would allow significant volumes of food and fertilizer exports from three key Ukrainian ports in the Black Sea.

The deal aims to ensure the safe passage for ships carrying grain to world markets amid concerns about food shortages due to the prolonged crisis in Ukraine. Russia and Ukraine are major global wheat suppliers.