The ship with the first batch of grain exported by Ukraine since February 24 will not arrive in Lebanon on Sunday as expected, the Ukrainian embassy in Lebanon told AFP on Saturday.
The Sierra Leone-flagged cargo ship Razzoni left the Black Sea port of Odessa on Monday with 26,000 tons of corn after Russia and Ukraine signed separate agreements brokered by Turkey and under the auspices of the United Nations.
On Wednesday, Turkish and Russian experts inspected the ship off the coast of Istanbul, ahead of its scheduled arrival date, according to the Ukrainian Embassy in Lebanon, on Sunday at 10:00 (07:00 Moscow time) in the port of Tripoli in northern Lebanon.
“We would like to inform you of the delay in the arrival of the Razzoni ship, expected tomorrow,” the Ukrainian embassy in Lebanon said in a statement obtained by AFP.
When asked about the reasons for the delay, the embassy told AFP that it “does not have any other information at this time.”
An informed official confirmed to AFP that the ship may not dock in Lebanon if it manages to sell its cargo to a merchant in another country.
“The ship will not go to Lebanon, with the exception of one case … if a merchant buys it,” the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Source: AFP.