World Food Program grain ship from Ukraine to Yemen

Latest news on the war pitting Russia and Ukraine.

A ship loaded with cereals chartered by the UN World Food Program (WFP) has departed this Tuesday from the Ukrainian port of Pivdennyi, on the Black Sea, to Yemen thanks to the agreement reached between Moscow and Kiev under the supervision of Turkey and the United Nations.

“The war in Ukraine has been the last straw in Yemen against a backdrop of protracted conflict, the resulting economic crisis and dwindling funds for humanitarian response,” said WFP country director Richard Ragan.

He has therefore explained that it is “paramount” that commodities reach Yemen, especially cereals. “This is vital to keep prices at bay,” he added in what is already the second shipment of cereals to Yemen.

The vessel, named ‘MV Karteria’, is carrying 37,000 tons of wheat grain, and will first stop in Turkey, where it will make a stop to transform the grain into flour. It will then arrive in Yemen, where more than 17 million people are struggling with acute hunger, a figure that is expected to rise in the coming months.

According to UN data, 46 percent of Yemen’s wheat imports in 2021 came from Ukraine and Russia. Due to the humanitarian crisis situation, about 345 million in 82 countries are facing acute food insecurity.

On the other hand, the first ship with cereals from Ukraine has docked this Tuesday in Djibouti, in the Horn of Africa, WFP director David Beasley reported on his official Twitter profile.

After 14 days at sea, the ship ‘MV Brave Commander’ has arrived in this African country with nearly 23,000 tons of wheat to support the UN agency’s humanitarian response in the Horn of Africa, WFP has explained on its Twitter profile.

The Ukrainian Ministry of Infrastructure reported on August 16 that the ship had departed from the port of Pivdennii in the Ukrainian city of Yuzhne with the aim of helping to alleviate the effects of drought in the African region, where famine and adverse weather conditions are destroying livelihoods.

Ships, crossing the Black Sea to the Bosphorus Strait, are screened before entering Ukraine to ensure that they are not carrying weapons or combat material. The delivery of millions of tons of grain, on which developing countries in Asia, Africa and the Middle East depend to fill their larders, had been suspended since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24.